


A Service Rendered

by Star-Lord Stark (SpookzMagenta)



Series: Blackmail is a Harsh Term (Let's Call it Chicanery) [2]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Dimensions/Timelines, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bastardized Norse Mythology, Bruce is still omnipotent, But no real cheating, But not Loki's kids, Double Life, Frostiron Bang 2014, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Infinity Gems, Intersex Loki, Jotunn | Frost Giant, Loki's Kids, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Secret Relationship, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 04:17:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2533865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookzMagenta/pseuds/Star-Lord%20Stark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki and Tony had a deal.  It was working fairly well.  Tony minded his own business, Loki was off gallivanting through space most of the time, and occasionally they met passive aggressively somewhere in the middle.  But now, there were videos of Loki's old allies stealing the god's staff of doom from the Chitauri invasion, and Tony was pretty sure Loki was actually MIA this time.  Then, there was some sort of outer space Zena impersonator with a sword that was trying to run him through, and he’d be damned if the bitch didn't have some familiar green peepers.  All in all, Tony knew his little pact with Loki was a pretty fucked idea, but it was really starting to bite him in the ass.  And that was before you added in the crazy magic-y hoodoo shit that was slowly trying to kill him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wtf is this, the Smurfs?

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank Letzi, the wonderful artist I was paired with for this year's Frostiron Bang, for the work she did for this story. I am so very glad I got the opportunity to work with her, and am absolutely besotted by the art she did.  
> Links to her art can be found in the notes for the chapters the pieces go with, as well as in an additional note at the end of the story.  
> For those of you who've been waiting: here it finally is, the second installation of this quartet. Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope it's worth the wait. For those of you new to the series, I'd love it if you checked out the previous installment, A Favor Owed, but it's by no means necessary for you to enjoy this story.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank Letzi, the wonderful artist I was paired with for this year's Frostiron Bang, for the work she did for this story. I am so very glad I got the opportunity to work with her, and am absolutely besotted by the art she did.  
> Links to her art can be found in the notes for the chapters the pieces go with, as well as in an additional note at the end of the story.  
> For those of you who've been waiting: here it finally is, the second installation of this quartet. Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope it's worth the wait. For those of you new to the series, I'd love it if you checked out the previous installment, A Favor Owed, but it's by no means necessary for you to enjoy this story. Part three is completed and posted, and part four is posted and only three chapters short of completion.

Natasha had been watching him. Tony didn’t know exactly when he’d noticed it, or when it had started, but if he had to take a guess, it would be from the day of his showdown with “the Other;” the day he had a permanent reminder of in the form of the little swirling star of Loki’s poisonously green magic scarred just underneath his Arc Reactor. It hadn’t been obvious (but then, what was obvious, when you were living with three of SHIELD’s best secret agents/assassins?), but he’d felt the prickle of eyes on the back of his neck for weeks, now. He extended his new something “extra” to manipulate the Tower’s cameras, and sure enough, there she was, lurking in his personal quarters, rifling very professionally through his possessions (and, by extension, the lack of “Lyell’s” possessions in his personal living quarters). Not exactly optimal, but considering how on again, off again the relationship must appear to outsiders (and let’s be honest, it was no less tenuous to the participants in it, by any means), the lack of Loki’s personal affects could easily be excused.

And speaking of the miserable, thorn-in-his-side Trickster, Tony could currently give a flying fuck less where he was. The last time he’d seen him, the only time he’d seen him since the slaughter of the Other, Loki had disappeared before morning came with no word. He’d wandered off while Tony was sleeping, and even Tony’s new and strengthening connection with his technology could not pinpoint his location, or solidly “feel” him, anymore. So as far as Tony was concerned, the bloody alien bastard could choke on someone else' cock and die. At least, as soon as he let Tony know he hadn’t kicked the bucket yet, doing what he do out there in space. Tony hummed in satisfaction as he levitated the components of his new suit together, his brow furrowed in careful concentration, only for the whole mess to come crashing to the floor of his lab (carefully padded, now, from similar, prior experiences) as JARVIS sounded an alarm.

“For fuck’s sake, what now?”

  


Tony returned Fury’s one-eyed stare incredulously.

“You mean to tell me that SHIELD, the most secret of the super top secret, badass, you-fuck-with-us-you-die organizations, with secret codes for their secret codes, and hidden bases for their hidden bases, managed to lose Loki’s glow-stick-of-doom?” Tony scoffed.

Fury remained unruffled in his perpetual state of mildly fed up and pissed off as he gave a nod to Sergeant Hill, who began playing footage of the break-in for the gathered Avengers. As Tony watched, a man (if you could really call him a man) of dimensions that dwarfed even Thor’s, with an ax to match, appeared inside of the facility along with a blonde woman clad in an even more gauche shade of green than that Loki preferred. The woman’s eyes, and the green cloud of what was presumably “magic,” matched her wardrobe in shade. Oh goody. More magical space sorcerers it was.

Fury’s voice was dry. “This pair appeared in the facility SHIELD was storing Loki’s staff in about half an hour before your arrival.” The scene continued to play out, and the Avengers watched as Ax-Dude sliced and diced SHIELD’s finest who tried to block the pair’s progress. As he butchered the guards, creepiest-lady-to-ever-creep used her magic to force her way into the containment area SHIELD had created for the scepter. As she lifted it into her hand, the glow of her eyes altered slightly, a manic grin crossed her features, and she and her muscle, in a move way too fucking familiar to Tony by now, disappeared in an instant without a trace.

“So, any idea what we’re dealing with, here?” Tony’s voice, amazingly, came out as cocky and unconcerned as usual, while inwardly he couldn’t help but feel he’d been played. To Tony’s surprise, Thor stood.

“Aye, I am familiar with this sorceress. She is of Asgard.” The Thunderer paused, looking reluctant to voice the rest of his thought. “She is well known to my brother, Loki. They have worked together in the past. I fear it cannot be coincidence that she has stolen the weapon he wielded in his attempt to subjugate Midgard.” Yehp, there went that sick feeling in Tony’s gut.

  


Tony was, rather pitifully, hunched over the bench in his lab asleep after several days straight of barricading himself in, running tests, practicing his (he hesitated to call it magic) new… skills, and working on his suits. He still felt a twinge of guilt every time he began a new design on his Starkpad, but necessity outweighed his vast array of complexes. Despite not imbibing of enough alcohol for a hangover, his head was muzzy and panging when he abruptly startled awake. At first, he could not tell what had jolted him out of sleep, but he quickly noticed a biting chill in the room that had not been there before, and the acrid, smoky quality that the air usually got when Loki teleported. He stood to turn, barbed words already prepared to fly off of his tongue, only to pause in utter stupification at the sight that greeted him.

The creature before him was anything but the perfectly coifed, pale god that Tony was expecting. Icy blue skin darkened at ridges that swirled across it in whorling designs. Its hair was inky black, and as it stumbled and collapsed to the floor, the eyes that rose to meet Tony’s were a red that was darker than blood. Tony held back a gasp as its face upturned to him, recognizing the sharp and cutting features from careful hours spent observing them. This new guise could no more fool him than that of Lyell had. This utterly foreign creature, somehow, was Loki. His mind spun itself in circles. Alien. Adopted. Frost Giants. He was beginning to see what the big deal was.

Without consciously deciding to, he found his feet carrying him over to the collapsed god. The closer he came to Loki, the further the temperature dropped. This new, unfathomable Loki maintained eye contact with Tony as he approached, but he did not push himself up from where he was collapsed on the floor, and as Tony dropped to his knees in front of him, he registered the labored, wheezing puff of his lover’s breath and the slight rise of panic in his eyes. He noticed the slickness of the floor underneath him, and even in the dark, managed to make out the darker stain of blue soaking Loki’s torso. As he reached out to touch Loki’s skin, he hissed and quickly withdrew his hand at the bite of the freezing temperature radiating from the god’s body. He quickly checked to make sure the limb was undamaged, then closed his eyes to concentrate on that inner core of something weird he’d been getting more and more used to accessing.

This time, when he extended his hand to touch Loki, he registered the cold, but it did not penetrate to burn at his flesh. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes glowed an ethereal blue to match that of his Arc Reactor as he accessed the magic inside of him and shaped it to his will. Loki’s eyes fluttered, shut, and remained closed as his body went limp, and Tony’s hand made contact with the slick, deep blue and freezing blood seeping from the Jotunn’s chest. He quickly searched, assessing where the wound might be, now that Loki had lost consciousness, uncaring of whether his quick and searching prods to blood-soaked flesh were painful in his haste to find the source of the flow and close it. His hands closed, slippery, on the edge of the deep wound below Loki’s sternum, and he felt his magic reaching, flowing out of him without his guidance, shimmering at his fingertips.

He watched as the ragged hole closed under his glowing hands, the glow dissipating to a light blue starburst on Loki’s chest, and poisonous, swirling green on Tony’s palms. That was some seriously fucked déjà vu. Tony examined his palms in disbelief. He and Loki were both looking at a future of metal plated gloves and undershirts as a very necessary fashion statement, or pretty much permanent glamours. At least, if Loki could explain his way out of that SHIELD footage Tony had been stewing over for the last week. Tony really wasn’t holding out hope for that. But then, he couldn’t find it in himself to watch the bloody bastard bleed out on his floor, either. He didn’t know whether or not he was growing to regret his decision to cow tow to his curiosity instead of his common sense, but despite the questionable loyalties of his twisted bedfellow, Tony knew what side of the field he was playing on. He sighed, watching in detached relief as the blue-skinned-bastard’s breathing evened out and became easy. He stripped the tattered remains of Loki’s clothing from his body, discarding it, then grabbed a clean towel, wet it, and carefully began to clean the blood from the god’s skin. When he finished, he lifted Loki into his arms (no easy task, as despite not living up to the “giant” in his heritage, space aliens generally seemed to be tall fuckers as far as Tony could tell) and deposited him on the sofa tucked into a corner of his lab. He noticed the dark stains on his clothing, and chucked it with minimum regret after cleaning the blood from the floor. He covered Loki with a blanket, redressed, and returned to his lab bench to sit vigil over the would be conqueror of Midgard.

  


Hours later, Tony watched in fascination as Loki’s skin bled from shades of indigo and icy blue to pale white in increments. When Loki began to stir what seemed like ages later, his eyes eventually opening and seeking out Tony’s own, they were the sharp and piercing green that Tony was used to. They seemed to thaw, briefly, as they examined him, much as the temperature of the room had thawed as the god lay unconscious. However, Loki’s eyes quickly turned shuttered and guarded as they took in Tony’s overly relaxed posture and unnatural silence. He pulled himself up to sit, slowly, carefully, snorting derisively as he noted the new and glowing addition to his collection of scars, before turning to Tony again.

“Well, Stark, out with it, already. Do share what’s weighing on your frail Midgardian mind.” Loki’s tone was thick with condescension, the quirk of his eyebrow disdainfully amused.

Tony’s brow furrowed even further as he uncrossed his arms and stood. He turned to touch one of the many holographic screens in the room, initiating the footage of Amora stealing Loki’s staff with a swipe of his index finger. He turned back toward Loki, watching as the other man’s eyes narrowed and his lips thinned to form a grim line. When the video finished and Loki turned to him again, his eyes were furious and over-bright.

“If there is something you are intending to accuse me of, Anthony, do bother to at least verbalize your accusation.” His tone was venomous and his words clipped.

Tony walked slowly toward him, halting a step away from being near enough to reach out and touch him. “You’ve worked with her before, Loki. You have to admit how bad this looks.”

Loki flew to his feet, closing the distance between them. “Say it, Stark. Say that you think I’ve betrayed you. Say that you think I’ve been manipulating you all along. Say that it was all a lie.” Loki’s words hit him, metallic, hollow, his expression entirely closed off now. “You would be far from the first.”

Tony refused to beg. He would not plead, bargain, or whinge. Whatever this arrangement, however genuine his affection for the Asgardian had become over the months, he had known what he was signing on for. He had known the risks. He would not throw his integrity, his pride at Loki’s feet in exchange for honesty and answers like some love struck teenager. He would take responsibility for the repercussions of his liaison with Loki.

“You know what I’m going to ask you, Loki. There’s no point in my saying it. What is your answer?” He managed to force the words past his lips, instead of the “why” that was resonating in his head, resonating like the cold sense of betrayal he felt.

Loki looked him directly in the eyes, his own grim and void, lips sealed defiantly. Tony waited a beat, then two, and by the third, Loki had disappeared.

“I guess that’s my answer, then.” It was no more than he expected, and yet, Tony felt more alone than he had since this whole mad charade had begun. Which was silly, really, considering having Loki for a lover was somewhat akin to sharing your bed with a phantom.

  


After an unproductive day spent trying to ignore the metaphorical elephant in the room, and to pretend just a little longer that his greatest mistake was only on one of his space jaunts, not gone for good, Tony curled up very soberly in his bed to sleep early in the evening. He had succeeded in completely avoiding contact with the rest of the occupants of the Tower that day. He had not been asleep for long before the dreams began.

  


He trudged through what seemed to be endless miles of blizzard, but strangely, the cold was not biting as it should be, and instead was a pleasant tingle on his skin. Finally, he came to gargantuan columns of ice, and as he watched, shadows that had seemed to be part of those pillars separated themselves from their surroundings, looming above him. Their skin was a shade of blue so dark he had never before seen it on a living creature, and as their foreign words fell on his ears, he was surprised that he seemed to understand.

His mouth moved, forming syllables. “Byleistr. Hellblindi.” The tallest of the shadows drew even closer toward him, and pain blossomed beneath his sternum. He looked down to see his hand wrapped around the hilt of a dagger, buried in his chest. He watched, bewildered, as his arm withdrew the dagger from his flesh, heard the hideous sound of suction it made as his blood was wrenched from the wound with the obsidian blade of the dagger. He held it forward, presenting it to the others, and in their guttural tongue, his lips spilled the words, “blood for blood.” As the hulking figures reached forward for the blade and their skin touched its soaked ridges, the blood flashed and crackled malevolently with magic, and the creatures’ red eyes met his own.

  


Tony wrenched awake, gasping, the starburst of magic in his chest where Loki had healed him scalding him as he clawed at it in vain. He writhed, a cold sweat breaking out on his skin, as he waited for the burning to dissipate. Finally, achingly, it began to ease into a dull throb, still almost too hot to touch, against his skin. Tony tried not to think about the dream, but he did not sleep again that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to my wonderful artist, Letzi, for the art for this chapter: http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/101245755414/frostiron-bang-2014-a-service-rendered-by


	2. The Grass is Greener

Tony came out of his study toting a bottle from his secret, emergency scotch stash, swigging from it as he turned the corner toward the elevator down to his lab, only to halt abruptly in the face of the steely wrath of Pepper. She glared disapprovingly at him.

“Tony, I’d really thought we’d gotten beyond you sneaking entire bottles of hard liquor down to your lab a while ago.”

Tony smirked. “We did. And then we promptly returned to routine behavior after that bump in the road.”

Pepper pursed her lips. “Tony, please be serious. I’m worried about you. You’ve not been yourself, lately.”

“You mean I’ve not been myself comporting myself as you and SHIELD would prefer. Otherwise, I’ve been quite within my normal range.”

Pepper sighed. “Tony, that’s exactly what I’m worried about. But beyond that, you haven’t even left the Tower in days.”

Tony took another bracing swig of the scotch. “What, it’s not possible that I’m working on something important?”

“Tony, the last time you holed yourself away in your lab for this long, you ended up with around fifty Iron Man suits. Fifty, Tony. And almost had a nervous breakdown. Just, please, tell me that whatever is going on with you, you’re talking to someone about it, you’re talking to Lyell about it.”

Tony didn’t hold back the slightly manic laugh that bubbled out of him at that. “Trust me, Pepper, Lyell and I have nothing left to talk about. I’d be better off confiding in Nick Fury, and frankly, that’s not happening, suave eye-patch or no.”

When Tony saw the flare of pity in her eyes, he stepped around her to the elevator. “Trust me, Pep, I’m fine. All I need is a few more days of getting stupidly drunk and moping, and a good fight, and I’ll be good as new.” He stepped into the elevator and didn’t look back. So what if he hadn’t been able to fall asleep without almost immediately waking up from horrifying fucking visions since the last time he saw Loki. So what if his magic was practically boiling inside of his skin, a white-hot ache instead of its normal, energizing tingle. He was halfway certain that Loki had done this to him intentionally, spitefully. But the other half of him, it didn’t believe that at all. That part of him believed it was something far more serious, far more intrinsic, and a problem that would be much harder to solve. How did you separate yourself from someone, how did you cut them out of you, if your very magic was intertwined? And if the visions he kept having were really visions, and were of Loki as he suspected, then Loki’s mind must still be similarly, inextricably, tied to his own. Was he betraying his team to Loki without even being aware of it? Tony couldn’t know for sure, but until his dreams stopped or Loki made an appearance on earth again, he knew it was better that he distance himself from the Avengers.

  


Every time Tony shut his eyes, he found himself being pulled into unconsciousness, the dreams, or visions, or whatever the fuck they were pulling him under. So Tony stopped shutting his eyes. There was a fine line that he usually kept between peak sleep-deprived mania for genius and complete exhaustion, and Tony had ventured across it many times, but never had he gone so far past it that he couldn’t even remember when he’d crossed it. At least, he hadn’t until now. There had been many times that Tony had to make quick calculations in his head to come up with the last time he slept, but this was the first time he’d come up with nothing to calculate, a total absence of the memory of the last time he’d managed to sleep. What sleep he’d been getting before he opted to stop had been spotty, at best, at that.

Somehow, miraculously, he was functioning. He felt worse than when he’d woken up smelling of filth and metal in that cave in Afghanistan, but when he passed his teammates, he managed to make small talk, to smile, and to keep the fine tremors that had wracked his body in the first few days at bay. He’d even managed to get Pepper to buy into the act, and he’d be worried about that if the magic eating him alive from the inside weren’t scalding him with every heartbeat. He hated himself, hated Loki, hated magic. He hoped the bastard was suffering every single second of agony that he was, amplified by ten. Fuck. He just wished the bastard would come back, touch him, let his magic flow over Tony to soothe away the fiery ache.

He’d started taking on more and more work as Iron Man, solitary ventures that his calculations showed he’d need no backup for. They weren’t the worthwhile fights he was used to, but they did their job. They distracted him, they kept him awake, kept his mind off of the sheer agony coursing through his veins every second of every goddamn day that Loki remained cut off from him, the magic inside of him grasping for him, screaming at the separation from its origin. Fucking pathetic. Mostly, he felt like he was swatting at flies, taking out doom-bots and burglars in equal measure, occasionally stepping on the military’s toes to settle conflicts and down terrorists in other nations. He couldn’t be fucked to care, if it kept him awake, kept him away from the Avengers, kept him from reaching out again for Loki’s presence somewhere, anywhere in the goddamn universe that his magic could reach.

And then, inevitably, Tony fucked up, as Tony was want to do. 

  


Tony watched in a detached sort of horror as the magic flew from his fingertips, unbidden, as he reached for the cup of coffee on his desk. It wasn’t the small trickle he used for tasks about his lab, but a torrential flow that he could not stopper once it began, no matter how much he willed it to. It engulfed the entirety of his desk, devouring it explosively albeit silently, as though its violent force existed in a vacuum. Tony stared at the rubble in front of him, as the magical blue fire stuttered and burned out slowly, then, in bewilderment, shifted his gaze to his hands. They began to shake, minute tremors that spread throughout the rest of his body, magnifying until they became outright convulsions. His ears were ringing, and he didn’t hear the stunned whistle that came just before his knees buckled.

He felt hands grasping his shoulders, turning his head, until his eyes fuzzily recognized Bruce staring down at him, near panicked. His eyes flickered shut, and he lost the battle to remain conscious, immediately slipping into the world of images not his own that he’d been doing his damnedest to avoid.

  


Muzzily, he recognized a one-eyed man on a throne from descriptions that Thor had given of his father, sitting regally and with a fierce gleam in his eye as he observed the reconstruction going on around him. He wondered, idly, as the scene shifted to the same man, to fucking Odin, lying still as the grave and deathly pale in an isolated room, looking more ill for the pale glow surrounding him on the slab he lay on, why Thor had not told them his father was ill. Thor would have to return to Asgard, surely, since he was heir…

  


He wrenched himself away from the pull of the dreams, and of sleep, soon after, with a great force of will. Bruce’s concerned gaze met him when he opened his eyes, gasping for air and disoriented, as he always was when he returned to consciousness after the visions, the agony from his magic seeping back into his awareness like a cancerous ooze. Tony fought to bring his breathing back under control, to stifle his hiss of pain, with minimal success. Bruce was not fooled, not that Tony really expected him to be, after what he’d almost certainly witnessed. He was really going to have to work on JARVIS’ security protocols, if the AI had indeed been so concerned that he’d let Bruce into the lab without Tony’s permission.

He met Bruce’s gaze, flinching. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to pass this off as a technological malfunction and heat exhaustion, is there?” He tried to quirk his lips into his usual snarky grin, but aborted the attempt when he saw the anger in Bruce’s eyes.

“Tony, what the fuck is going on?”

Tony was silent for a moment, before sighing. “I’ve got it under control.”

Bruce’s fist hit the examination table in front of Tony. “What just happened to that table is NOT under control, Tony.” Tony could see Bruce calculatedly trying to get his breathing back under control as unnatural green swirled in his eyes.

“There’s nothing you can do, Bruce. I’ve tried everything I can think of, but nothing’s made a difference.” Tony hated the note of defeat in his voice.

Bruce began to pace about the lab before finally facing Tony again. He didn’t meet Tony’s eyes. “It’s Loki, isn’t it. Now that Loki isn’t here, you can’t control it anymore. It’s killing you, Tony.” Tony’s eyes widened in shock, his mouth parting, but his silence was condemning. Bruce met his eyes again, mouth quirking in a sad smile. “I’m not stupid, Tony. I think I knew from the moment I saw you with Lyell, that first morning.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“For the same reason I just gave you first aid with us both locked in your lab. Just because I trust you enough to believe you know what you’re doing doesn’t mean SHIELD will. I have no desire to see you imprisoned, or worse, for this.”

Tony sighed in defeat. “There’s something big going on, Bruce, something coming for us. I know I sound crazy, but Loki knew it, too. He’s been preparing, for all out war from what I can tell. Otherwise, he’d never have bothered gambling on my help. He… the invasion, Bruce? It wasn’t him. I can’t tell you how I know it for sure, but I do. I can show you footage, projections and conjectures I’ve made, but without the proof I need, without the proof that only he could give you, all I can do is ask you to trust my judgment, and I know right now, it doesn’t seem very viable.”

Bruce shifted uncertainly. “I’ve trusted your judgment this far, Tony. I can’t say that I trust Loki, but I liked Lyell. He may be God of Lies, but… you’re right, for a long time now, I haven’t thought the facts added up about his role in the invasion.” He paused, pacing again. “I don’t like SHIELD any more than you do, but I don’t like lying to the team about something this big. About something that is having negative consequences on someone’s life and health.”

Tony swallowed, hearing the question that Bruce didn’t voice. “The video of Amora. I tried to confront him about it. The evidence looked pretty damning.” Tony looked down at where the glowing marks were on his palms, underneath the work gloves he was wearing. “He refused to give me an answer. I don’t know where he is now, but I can’t find him. I can’t sense him, not even with the magic, now. It’s been…,” he didn’t want to go on, but Bruce looked expectantly on, “the magic has been unstable ever since. I’ve been having fucking visions, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m going fucking crazy and the pain. Won’t. Stop.” Tony stood and stripped off the gloves, stripped off his shirt, turning his revealed palms and torso toward Bruce, where he could see the unnatural blues and greens tinting the veins leading toward and away from his arc reactor, from the scars imbued with his and Loki’s magic, where he could see the redness of burns around them. Bruce’s brows furrowed and he started toward Tony, who backed away, holding out his hand to stall Bruce. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you. The marks will burn you.”

Bruce’s lips thinned into a hard line. “Let me run some tests, Tony.”

Tony laughed, humorlessly. “I don’t think you’re going to like what you find.

  


Bruce looked at Tony in defeat a few hours later. “Your temperature is well within the range for causing brain damage, your blood is so acidic I don’t see how it isn’t killing you, and your white cells are through the roof. They’re attacking your own body. Nothing is working the way it’s supposed to, everything is messed up, and I don’t see how you’re alive. The same thing that’s nearly killing you seems to be the only thing keeping you from dying.” Bruce let out a ragged sigh. “The only person who might have any idea how to fix this, or know someone who does, is the one person we have no way of finding.” Bruce cursed, colorfully.

Tony smirked. “That about sums it up, yeah.” He stood, grimacing at the pain that flared throughout his body at the movement. “Well, I might as well be productive while I’m waiting to die.”

Bruce removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “I’ll keep running tests, see if I can’t figure out something, even if it’s temporary.” He sighed. “Be careful, Tony.”

Tony nodded, jerkily, and summoned his suit.

  


Tony was flying patrol above Manhattan when, out of nowhere, he was hit. The impact was jarring, and he couldn't recover quickly enough to keep himself from hurtling towards the ground. The second impact was no less painful for the fact that he was expecting it. What the bloody fuck was that. Tony’s suit was not appreciative of the rough treatment, alarms and JARVIS’ voice blaring into his ears, the screens in his visor blinking red and angry at him. He rolled himself over with a groan, his muscles protesting the sudden movement after his plummet to the ground. When Tony finally managed to lever himself over, he dropped back to the ground, eyes frantically searching what he could see of his surroundings for his attacker.

What he saw stunned him. Familiar green eyes pierced him from a feminine face, jet black hair swirling around it. The woman was battle hardened and inhumanly tall, but obviously young. Her damningly familiar eyes were cold and observed him like he was the proverbial ant beneath her boot. There was madness in those eyes, a manic glee and blood thirst that Tony had rarely seen, even among super villains and terrorists. Unease prickled across his spine, and he barely managed to roll out of the way as she hefted a giant, malevolently green and glowing blade in his direction.


	3. Zena, Warrior Princess (or Possibly Just a Rabid Space Bitch)

After that, Tony felt like he was starring in an episode of Tom and Jerry, except Tom in this scenario was distinctly not inept, and Jerry (aka Tony) didn’t have time to be a snarky little bitch, for once. The woman… no, girl, had teal flames of magic jumping from her fingertips, and yeah, Tony had a feeling his suspicions were correct. But his dancing around trying not to get killed was keeping him from thinking about it too much. It was also really disconcerting, because occasionally, she just flickered before his eyes, right when he was ready to score a hit on her, and she wasn't a woman or an adolescent anymore, she was a waifish looking child. Inevitably, whether or not the trick was real, Tony kept falling for it.

He could feel himself slowing down, his muscles getting sluggish, and he had used up most of his reactor power on that last unibeam he sent skittering in her direction, only for her to teleport elsewhere at the last second. He needed time for the reactor to recharge before he could even attempt another blast like that, and it was time that his exhausted and abused body could scarcely afford. He was afraid to even attempt using his magic after its last unbidden flare up and the destruction it wrought. That would rather be letting the cat out of the bag on… well, everything. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that Nick Fury wasn’t going to be aware of this little show down, sooner rather than later, and there were going to be enough uncomfortable questions about Tony’s recent behavior without him exploding this block of the city.

And then, the inevitable happened. The little bitch turned her childlike eyes up to him, and they were filled with malicious glee when she feinted with her sword. While Tony was dodging the blade, she shot off a powerful blast of magic at him, hitting him full force in the chest. The reaction was explosive and nearly immediate, the magic in his arc reactor revolting against the foreign magic hitting him and flooding outward around him. He wasn't protected from the fallout at all, and lay panting on the ground as the force of it rocketed outward, knocking his opponent off of her feet as well. Tony could feel himself fizzing in and out of consciousness, and then there were hard but gentle fingers on his face, turning him to look up into Loki’s eyes. He was right. The creepy alien girl’s eyes were the exact same shade. Her hair was almost exactly the same, too, maybe a little bit lighter. She had the same sharp cheekbones and aquiline nose.

Tony was definitely more than a little pissed off that the man he had been shacking up with didn’t mention having a batshit insane daughter that was apparently jonesing to rip out Tony’s throat. Tony was pissed off about a lot of things, just then, frankly. But Loki didn’t even turn his head to look at the girl, his complete attention focused on Tony. And, shit, Loki wasn’t disguised. Loki was out in the open, and touching Tony, and SHIELD could show up at any minute after that explosion, and Tony was so fucking panicking right then it wasn't even funny. Loki picked up on his unease, turned to look and see if their opponent was still down, his face registering surprise for perhaps the first time since Tony had known him. But as Tony turned his head to look as well, he saw her return to her child-like form, still motionless on the ground, and flicker and disappear. Tony turned his attention back to Loki as he felt the flicker of familiar magic across his skin, and then they were barricaded in Tony’s lab.

As soon as they were finished teleporting, Loki removed himself from Tony and began to pace agitatedly about the lab. Tony slowly, manually disassembled his fairly ruined armor, occasionally letting his eyes flicker back to the god. When he had finished, he heard Loki inhale bracingly before turning to face him.

“It would seem that our magics are currently not amenable to separation, Stark.” Tony scoffed and watched as Loki’s already shuttered features creased into a scowl. “While it’s clear that you distrust me and would rather not have me here where you could be implicated in any of my schemes, you’re bloody well going to have to make do. The separation was killing you, and it was severely hindering me. I’m either going to have to find a way to completely break the link between our magics, or to seal it, for good, before we can go our separate ways.” He returned to pacing. “Believe me, I like this no better than you. It’s insulting to not have the full grasp of my magic, for the first time since I was but a child, and all because of a fool of a Midgardian.”

Tony had heard about enough of Loki’s spiel. However, he didn’t consciously decide to say any of what came pouring out of his mouth in that next moment. “Care to explain the little she-bitch that was just trying to tear out my throat, then, Loki?” Well, shit, he guessed he could roll with it, now that he’d opened his gab. “She looks awfully fucking familiar. Those green eyes really are something. Now, I know you’ve got more than enough brothers, what with Helblindi, Byleistr, and Thor, but you’ve never mentioned sisters, have you? I suppose you never overtly mentioned the brothers, either, but you seem to visit them often enough.” He paused, taking in the absolutely infuriated expression on Loki’s face. “So, I doubt she’s your sister. Definitely not your mother, either. Way too young. She may have the whole shape shifting thing down, but something about her just seemed really fucking childlike. I don’t see why a grown frost giant would disguise themselves as a human or Asgardian, much less as a child, either. Certainly not a frost giant who is the mother of kings.” Loki was slowly walking toward him, the expression on his face terrifying to behold. “Aha! She must be your daughter. God, Loki, why didn’t you tell me you had a kid? I would have bought her a pony or something, tried to placate her about the fact that I’m boning her dad before she decided to turn me into her new target for sword practice.” Loki was standing just in front of him, and Tony dropped his sarcasm at the proximity, becoming deathly serious. “Who is her mother, Loki? Is it your lovely sorceress friend, Amora? She had green eyes, green magic. So do you, so does the kid. It would make sense. Are you all three working together? What, steal back that power staff you got from Thanos, take out me and the rest of the Avengers, finish your invasion for the big boss? Or are Mommy and Baby doing their own thing, trying to take out Daddy’s new lover boy and bring you back into the fold?” Loki’s hands had gripped his shoulders and started to shake him at some point during his tirade. The flare of jealousy, of betrayal inside of Tony had spiraled out, become an inferno, and he was so damn tired of it all he couldn’t even be ashamed. Now, as he stood silent, eyes downcast, the shaking had become slow, intermittent, and soft.

When he met Loki’s eyes again, the anger was still there, but there was also hurt and a hint of defeat. “Stark, I don’t have a daughter. I know how she appeared, but I swear to you, I have sired no children. I have never lain with Amora. She has always had eyes only for my brother, and I refuse to ever be used as a substitute for Thor, as a tool to get Thor’s attention.” He hesitated, clearly reluctant, but deciding to go on. “I don’t know why she has the staff. She must have made her own pact with Thanos. I haven’t been keeping track of her; she is a petty creature whose power is not something I would normally need worry over.” In the face of Tony’s skepticism, he began to pull away. Tony grabbed his hands, still on his shoulders, to stop him. He searched Loki’s face. “Anthony, she is not my child. She cannot be.” Something flickered across Loki’s features and he hesitated.

“Ah, so she can, now, is it?” Tony’s heart wasn’t in the sarcasm.

“I, at present, have yet to sire any children, Stark. But I am not a seer. It is possible that, in the future, I may have offspring. It is possible that in some dimension outside of our own, I already do. But the version of me that stands before you has had no part in the creation of that creature that attacked you today.”

The implications of Loki’s words niggled at Tony’s mind. “What do you mean, then, Loki? How could she be here, attacking me today, if she’s not from our time or our dimension?”

Loki hesitated. “There are things in this universe, things that even a mind like yours could not fathom. I have seen some of them, and heard rumors of others. I believe I know who the girl who attacked you is. If I am correct, then she is a servant of Thanos. If you are correct, and she is my offspring, that means that I could not prevent Thanos from taking my child from me. If he was able steal her from some other dimension, or some other time, and send her to attack us here, then we are in greater peril than I had suspected, and he is closer to completing his plans than we have had time to prepare for. That Amora has stolen his staff from SHIELD certainly reinforces my suspicions.”

“Loki, quit talking in fucking circles. What sort of trouble are we looking at here?” If Tony was still gripping Loki’s wrists, it was out of shock, and nothing more.

“Stark, now is the time where you have to decide: do you trust me? I thought you had given me my answer the last time I was here, and your reaction to your attacker today makes me believe that my assumption was correct. I am not in the habit of giving second chances. So decide, now, and let it be final.”

Tony could not bring his eyes to meet Loki’s. “That is what I thought.” He began to attempt to extricate his wrists from Tony’s grip, but Tony tightened his fingers.

“No.” He said it softly. “You don’t get to decide for me like this.” Loki stilled in his grasp. “If I didn’t trust you, I would be justified. No one with any sense, no one with any loyalty to their planet, their species, their teammates, would trust you.” He could see Loki flinch from his peripheral vision. “It’s a good thing you chose the weakest link in the chain.” He sighed, raising defeated eyes to meet Loki’s. “Logically, I don’t trust you. But a part of me knows that I have to at least trust your judgment, trust what side you’re on in this complete shit show of a war, if any of us are going to survive.” The way Loki’s lips thinned showed his displeasure with that answer. “And there’s a part of me, that no matter how much I curse and rail and fight against it, that wants to trust you.” He registered Loki’s surprise before he turned his own face away in embarrassment. “Now that we’ve gotten the touchy feely shit out of the way, allow me to go slit my wrists while I still have some small bit of dignity left.”

Loki’s face seemed to wilt, crumple, break into a grin, a smile so large it bordered on manic, as hysterical laughter began to pour from him. Tony backed away from him slowly, raising his hands in a calming gesture. Loki slowly got his laughter under control, but the smirk on his face and the gleaming mischief in his eyes still made him look crazed.

“I will give you your answers, once I am more sure of them myself. For now, I believe we both need to heal some of the damage our magic has wrought in retaliation at my extended absence.” He stalked slowly toward Tony, slotting his body up against his from head to toe, and if Tony shivered, it was just out of relief as the magic inside of him immediately settled and calmed. Tony could feel Loki summoning his magic as he teleported them to Tony’s bedroom. He couldn’t help a contented chuckle when they landed in the bed, beneath the covers, already undressed and skin to skin. Tony carefully traced his fingers over the new starburst of magic in Loki’s chest, smiling as he heard Loki’s sharp intake of breath.

“Bruce knows,” Tony murmured, waiting for the inevitable explosion. Except, it never came. Loki hummed softly, and stretched, cat-like, against Tony’s body, soaking in his warmth.

“I thought the clever doctor might. He’s always been a little too open, too candid with me for someone who just thought I was a civilian.” Tony snorted, only for his breath to hitch and his pulse to skitter alarmingly as Loki aligned their torsos, pressing their matching scars into contact. It was like a pulse of electricity running through Tony’s body. Loki reached for one of Tony’s hands, pressing the marks on their palms together, and the sensation was amplified. “This may well be painful. Brace yourself.” When Loki brought the palms of their other hands into contact, Tony’s entire body went taut. He felt like he’d been hooked up to a live wire. His heartbeat was erratic, his breathing labored, and he could feel minute spasms in all of his muscles. The tension continued to build, spiraling higher into a white hot point of agony in his body, and suddenly it surpassed what even he’d thought possible, seeming to spark and snap. Then, miraculously, everything felt… better. Stronger. He felt more alive than he had in years. Loki broke the contact between their bodies, and Tony made a small sound of discontent. Loki chuckled softly in response.

Tony stretched languidly, soft warmth pooling in all of his muscles, as he squirmed to seek Loki’s warmth again. But when his skin made contact with Loki’s, Loki’s was cool, almost chilly against his. Tony moved aside the blankets so that the light of his arc reactor could illuminate his bedmate. He barely held back a gasp as he saw the luxuriously blue skin that greeted him, the burgundy eyes that were almost anxiously searching his face. Tony eagerly pressed himself to Loki’s skin, wondering why it was only cool and not dangerously freezing this time.

“So, Reindeer Games, what was that chakra aligning bullshit that just happened?” He could feel the soft huff of Loki’s quiet laughter against his skin.

“I am not positive that it will work, Stark, but I have hopefully straightened out the imbalance in our magic that was causing us such… distress, while I was absent. It is difficult to truly judge whether or not I have fixed it, when some of my magic has mixed so thoroughly with yours from the arc reactor, but I believe I have aligned it so the pull towards its original source should dissipate.”

Tony hummed in thought. “I guess that makes sense, sort of. Because you have some of my magic from where I healed you, too, don’t you? Is that because our magic was already sort of… tied, because of the arc reactor?”

“I believe it must have something to do with it, yes. But really, this sort of situation is… unprecedented.”

“I always did like being a case study.” Loki swatted him playfully, and for that moment, Tony could actually believe that things were going to be okay. That they were going to be able to defeat the big bad, placate the Avengers, and maybe, just maybe, they could have other little moments like these. Moments where they were relaxed and content, or as relaxed and content as a genius and a deity would ever be.

Tony nuzzled in closer to Loki, burying his face in his neck. “Loki,” he mumbled against the fragile skin he found there, and could feel the rumble of the sound of inquiry Loki made in response. “Why are you showing me this? I mean, I’m flattered, really, I am. And I like it,” Tony hastened to express the last bit as he felt Loki stiffening in his arms, “but I always got the feeling that you really… don’t. Like it, that is. Or want to be seen like this, by like, anybody.” Loki doesn’t pull away, but he’s silent for a long moment.

Tony almost couldn't hear him when he decided to respond a long while later. “You decided to try to trust me.” Tony almost thought he imagined it, but nonetheless, he picked up the implied part. The part where Loki had decided to do the same. The knowledge of it was heady within him, and he couldn't resist taking advantage, regardless of whether or not it broke the tenuous peace they were currently basking in. He nibbled at Loki’s earlobe, delighted at the shudder it earned him in response.

“Does this mean I get to have my wicked way with you while you’re rockin’ the blue thing?” He could practically hear Loki rolling his eyes.

“Stark, you should really learn to not open your mouth when you’re trying to seduce me. The bile that comes from it ruins your efforts.”

Tony snorted. “There are plenty of reasons that you love my mouth, and the vast majority of them require that it be open.” He waggled his eyebrows and Loki shoved him, almost playfully.

Then Loki turned to him, and his face was quite serious. “Stark, there is something that you… need to see, before we can continue with anything. If you do not still desire me, afterwards, I will understand.” Tony started to open his mouth to respond, to tell Loki that he was being an idiot, that Tony could never imagine NOT wanting Loki writhing and panting beneath him, or over him, or… any number of ways that Tony could imagine right then, but Loki held a finger up to his lips.

Loki slowly peeled the blankets off of himself, and Tony felt his pulse speeding as inch after inch of delectably blue skin was revealed to him. When all of Loki was finally bare, he met Tony’s eyes and slowly shifted his legs apart, open, his face a study in impending doom. Tony didn’t get it, not for a good minute, but then his brain got with the program and he looked where Loki wanted him to. With the dark of the room and the dark of Loki’s skin, it was hard to tell what he was supposed to see, but he thought he could make out the shadow of something quite unexpected behind the globes of Loki’s smooth, indigo balls. He looked questioningly up at Loki, who looked more nervous than Tony had ever seen him, nervous and self disgusted. Loki gave a small nod, and Tony reached to carefully run a finger through the cleft of Loki’s lips. Loki inhaled sharply, shivering in response.

“When I discovered the duality of biological sex in my species, I really found it no wonder that the peoples of the other realms would find them so heinous.” Loki had turned his eyes away from Tony, and his words were full of self-disgusted loathing.

Tony reached to turn his face so he was forced to meet Tony’s eyes. “I’m not going to say that this isn’t surprising, or, hell, even fascinating, Loki. Because I’m surprised as fuck, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more fascinated.” He paused. “But there is nothing heinous about this,” he pointedly ran a gentle finger across Loki’s lips again, and watched the reluctant pleasure that flit across Loki’s face. “I’m guessing since you hate this form so much, you’ve never bothered trying to find any reasons to like it.” He smiled, dangerously. “That just won’t do. Because this? This is beautiful.” He saw the doubt, the displeasure writ over Loki’s features, and readjusted himself before Loki could change his mind, could let his uncertainty win out.

Tony gripped Loki’s thighs, spreading them further apart, and brought his mouth to Loki’s cleft. He spread Loki’s lips, gently, with the fingers of one of his hands, and breathed hotly over Loki’s flesh. Loki squirmed against him, and he could practically feel the mortification radiating from him. He pressed a wet kiss to Loki’s cunt before Loki could voice his displeasure, and hummed in pleasure as he heard a resulting gasp. So he did it again. And again. Then, he calculatedly trailed his tongue over the length of Loki’s cleft, smiling as he felt the wetness beginning to seep from it. He nibbled carefully at Loki’s lips, delighted at the sharp sound of pleasure Loki made in response, before curling his tongue to press inside of Loki. Loki’s hands came down to grip his shoulders, his blunt nails scoring at Tony’s back as Tony began to fuck him with his tongue in earnest. Loki’s hips were pumping up against him, and Tony ran a curious finger over Loki’s leaking cock as he continued his ministrations to Loki’s quivering cunt. He blinked in surprise as he felt the gush of wetness against his hand where it had tentatively rubbed over Loki’s cock, Loki arching and gasping above him. He pulled away reluctantly, running curious fingers through the slick of Loki’s cleft as he settled beside of him, examining Loki’s face.

Loki’s eyes squeezed shut and he bit his lower lip to keep from gasping as Tony touched his overly sensitive flesh, and Tony decided that he wasn't going to fucking stop until Loki either looked like he wasn't enjoying it anymore, or Loki told him to, neither of which currently looked likely. He swirled his fingers across Loki’s quim again, delighted at how it elicited a full body shiver from the god. He slipped a finger slowly inside of Loki, pleased at how relaxed his inner muscles were after his orgasm, how pliant and wet he was, and slipped another finger inside of him, removing them almost all of the way before pumping them slowly back inside of Loki again. Loki squirmed against him, making a needy little whimper, and he just knew that his bedmate was going to be mortified once Tony was through absolutely wrecking him. He increased the speed of his fingers fucking into Loki’s wet little hole, adding a third, delighted at how Loki whimpered in response. Soon, he was fucking them in and out of Loki hard enough that it was making deliciously obscene sounds, and Loki was flushed a darker shade of blue all over, panting and wriggling against his hand. This time, he didn’t even have to touch Loki’s cock, and he watched in fascination as it spurted more come over Loki’s belly. Loki’s toes curled and he gasped as he came, and Tony leaned up to kiss him, swallowing the sounds.

As Loki recovered from his orgasm, Tony lapped lightly at the mess on his stomach, and Loki curled his fingers in his hair. He shimmied back up Loki’s body, slotting himself between Loki’s hips, not stopping the instinctual roll of his pelvis that dragged his cock across Loki’s quim as it came into contact with the wet, burning heat of Loki’s arousal. Loki’s hips instinctively bucked up against his, and now he was the one hissing and biting his lip. They kept up the torturous play until Tony was genuinely afraid that he would come before he had gotten the chance to be inside of Loki, and that just wouldn’t do. Loki’s lips were swollen and dripping wet when he lined his cock up to enter him, and he had to go ever so slowly, in increments, to keep himself from coming from the tight, wet, perfect heat of it all.

Loki’s legs were wrapped around his hips, heels kneading into his ass as he bottomed out. His arms were wrapped around Tony’s shoulders, nails painfully scoring his back. Loki was like an octopus, wrapped uncompromisingly, tightly around him in every possible way, and Tony wouldn’t have had it any other way.

He withdrew, slowly, and without consciously willing them to, his hips started pistoning into Loki, hard and fast and sloppy, and apparently Loki was totally into that, if the soft and plaintive mewls of pleasure he was making against Tony’s mouth were any indication. Tony could feel how hard Loki was, his cock dragging across Tony’s stomach with every thrust, obscenely coating Tony’s skin with the precome welling from its tip. And fuck, that was hot. He didn’t know how Loki could keep coming like this, how his body was capable of immediately bouncing back for round two and round three, but he was going to chalk it up to alien biology, and he was personally very grateful for it at the moment. In fact, now that Loki had done whatever sketchy magic shit he had to fix them, Tony thought he might have the energy to keep fucking Loki for the foreseeable future, especially if he kept making desperate little noises against Tony’s skin, against his mouth, squirming with every thrust Tony made inside of his tight little cunt.

Tony had a moment of genius in the midst of the best fuck of his life and separated himself as much as he could from Loki while still keeping up the bruising pace of their fucking. He dragged his fingers through the mess of come on Loki’s stomach, watching in fascination as Loki’s legs unwrapped from his back to fall gloriously open, splayed where he could watch himself disappearing and reappearing from the tight sheath of Loki’s cunt. He watched as Loki ran his hands playfully across his torso, fingers plucking teasingly at his nipples, as he made eye contact with Tony. He bit his lower lip, running one hand slowly across his chest, his stomach, down to cup his balls, hissing and arching his back at the answering ferocity of Tony’s thrust. As Loki wrapped his gorgeously long fingers against his leaking, straining cock, Tony slid his come slicked fingers back to the cleft of Loki’s ass, carefully pressing two of them inside while Loki was loose and relaxed.

Loki’s eyes widened in surprise, and the absolutely wrecked moan he made under Tony was the hottest thing he’d ever heard. Loki’s hips were rocking desperately, trying to fuck back onto Tony’s fingers, trying to fuck into the vice of Loki’s hand, trying to meet Tony’s increasingly erratic thrusts inside of him. Tony made a few experimental thrusts with his fingers, curling them gently inside of Loki, and when Loki absolutely whimpered underneath him, he knew he’d gotten the right spot. It didn’t take much after that, another teasing curl of his fingers inside of Loki’s ass, a sharp thrust of his hips, and Loki’s hand had already stilled on his dick, the stimulation too much, as he shuddered and came violently, a copious amount of fluid pooling in spurts onto his stomach. The tightening of his cunt around Tony’s dick was heaven, almost too hot, too wet, too tight, and the rippling spasms of Loki’s orgasm seemed to go on forever. Tony’s own orgasm was ripped from him before he could make another thrust, and he gasped brokenly at the intensity of it. He collapsed bonelessly on top of Loki without pulling out. The god gave a deep hum of utter satisfaction, and Tony would be surprised if he could ever move again, really. He had never felt this utterly spent.

Minutes, maybe hours, later, Loki spoke. “I think you might need to prove it to me again, Stark.”

Tony spluttered. “Prove what, exactly?”

He could feel Loki smirking without even needing to readjust his position to see it. “That this form truly has its… merits, and is not quite heinous, as you’ve said.”

Tony moved his face, slightly, to find Loki’s nipple. He bit it a little viciously. “You may be a god, but some of us are mortal and haven’t slept decently in weeks.” He laved where he had bitten after Loki flicked his nose. “I at least need a nap and a little recovery time before we do that again, enticed as I may be by the idea.” And it was true. Despite his bone deep exhaustion, he could still feel his dick stirring, twitching slightly with interest.

Loki hummed softly, noncommittally. “I suppose I can allow you some time, due to your naturally frail constitution.” Tony smiled into the skin of Loki’s chest. “Do at least let me clean us up, however. I am not overly fond of being so… sticky.” Loki’s nose crinkled in distaste, and Tony kind of hated himself for finding it so utterly adorable. With a great sigh, he hoisted himself up, separating them, and collapsed onto his back at Loki’s side. Loki rolled his eyes at him, sighing melodramatically, and with a twitch of his fingers they were dry and clean again. Tony really did love that trick, because he didn’t think there was any way he could be convinced to leave the bed and Loki’s sex warmed limbs right then, and he knew he would regret it when he awoke sticky and filthy the next morning. Loki flopped down onto his chest, loosely draping an arm and a leg over him as he nuzzled his face into Tony’s neck, and Tony’s arms instinctively came up to wrap around him. He traced patterns on Loki’s back, regretting the moment when Loki’s beautiful blue skin shifted to white, and his hair to a deep red, even though he knew they couldn’t sleep with Loki lying exposed in his bed.


	4. Infinity Bling and the Intergalactic Scavenger Hunt

When Tony woke up the next morning, for the first time in ages, he felt well rested. He wasn't in pain, he hadn’t dreamt, and he was blissfully warm from where Loki was pressed up against him. Trust issues aside, he had missed the bastard. Missed sex with the bastard. Missed snuggling with the bastard. It was absolutely baffling, considering how much Loki grated on his nerves, and what a violent little sociopath he was. But with the early morning light streaming in through the curtains, and Loki peaceful and all fucked out still dozing beside of him, he was okay with it, and willing to admit it to himself. What Loki did last night… Tony still thought it very unwise to trust Loki, but that was a show of trust he never could have fathomed. Tony didn’t know overly much about frost giants and Asgardians, but he’d overhead enough comments here and there to piece together just how many issues Loki had with the race he was born to. For Loki to have discovered, after being raised as a man, the truth of his body, of his sex, as an adult… Tony couldn’t fathom how much that would mess someone up.

Well, actually, he might have some idea. Maybe it would mess them up to about the point of attempting to subjugate earth and making a pact with really creepy fucking aliens. Loki began to stir in his arms, his brow crinkling unhappily.

“Anthony, I can hear you thinking. Do calm yourself and go back to sleep so I may enjoy my own rest for a bit longer.” Tony hummed noncommittally as he began to nibble at Loki’s neck. He felt Loki sigh, resigned to being awoken, before he cracked one eye open to mock glare at Tony.

Tony smiled his most winning smile at Loki, who looked at him with something bordering on fondness. Tony didn’t know what he was expecting out of this morning, but Loki’s next words were certainly not it. “We need to speak about what to do next.”

Tony waited, eyes trained on Loki, for an explanation. He didn’t have to wait long. “The staff that Amora and the Executioner took… I believe that it is something called an Infinity Gem. There are six of them. You have seen a measure of the power that is possible with the staff, and you remember the Tesseract. While I’m not certain about the staff, I know without a doubt that the Tesseract is one of the gems. Their power is nearly limitless.” Tony listened with growing horror as Loki continued. “Only a being of great power can harness a single gem, and Thanos covets them all. He has two beings that he has trained nearly from birth, beings he calls his daughters. Nebula and Gamora. I believe the woman you were fighting yesterday was the latter of the two. They serve him along with the Chitauri, and I believe that they are working to collect the gems for him.” Loki paused. “Somehow, I believe he has swayed Amora to his cause as well, and where Amora’s loyalties lie, so, too, do her Executioner’s.”

Unease began to roil through Tony. “A being who holds all of the stones would have boundless power. They would truly have no limits. Thanos’ only desire is to destroy, to kill everything in his path and present it to the woman he courts. A woman called Death, who is older than any other being I am aware of. I do not know how many of the gems that Thanos already holds, but even a single gem could be enough to spell our doom. If he manages to get his hands on all of them… I doubt there is any force in the universe that could save us then.”

Tony rolled over to stare at the ceiling, then threw an arm over his eyes. He gritted his teeth, his mind whirling, jumping from idea to idea, and coming up blank. “So what do we do, then? You said you’re not even sure that the staff is a gem? Do you know what the other gems are, where they’re supposed to be? Do we know anything about any of this?”

Loki sighed. “I’m certain that the Tesseract is a gem. I would guess it to be the Space Gem. The staff, if it is truly a gem, would obviously be the Mind Gem. Something I encountered during my hoaxed death on Svartalfheimr, the Aether, possessed the properties of the Reality Gem. I have heard tale of a band of miscreants that saved a planet in a different galaxy, Xandar, using a purple Infinity Gem. It fits the description of the Power Gem. Many of the gems were in the possession of a man called the Collector, who lived in a place called Knowhere, constructed in the severed head of one of the Celestial race at the edge of the universe. However, there was an incident, and he lost possession of some of the gems. If I were to go looking for them, Xandar and the Collector would be where I started.” He hummed, contemplatively. “I may also be able to track Amora, and reacquire the staff from her.”

“What about Asgard? Isn’t that where Thor took the Tesseract?”

“I’ve already searched the treasury there. I can find no trace of it. The All-Father must have had it hidden elsewhere. I suspect that it, along with the Aether, may have been the gems put in the possession of the Collector.”

Tony’s brain caught onto something in that sentence. “Wait, how did you get into Asgard’s treasury? Aren’t Heimdall and Odin keeping an extra careful eye out now that they know you’re alive?”

Loki chuckled, low and happy. “I always knew you to be intelligent, Stark. I adore it when you do not disappoint.”

Tony really didn’t like the sound of that. “Loki, how did you get into the treasury?” He was really getting the feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

“It’s simple, Stark. When the Dark Elves attacked Asgard, they killed my mother, as I’m certain Thor has told you by now. Odin had been determined to persist in believing that the Dark Elves were banished, never to be seen again, despite the evidence that pointed to their having escaped. When they attacked, he was entirely unprepared. He lost his wife, he already had one son in prison, and due to Jane Foster, he was at odds with the only son that has ever mattered to him. Odin is not the all-powerful, youthful god he once was. He is still strong, yes, be he is old, and only growing older. His power is becoming feeble compared to what it once was. He is still not a god that most would want to challenge, but the Odinsleep must come upon him to restore him more and more often.” Loki began to caress Tony’s arms, as though this conversation were normal pillow talk, and it was so absurd, it was almost horrifying. “Not only does the Odinsleep come more often, but its duration grows, as well. It has become unpredictable, and no longer follows the schedule that it used to. Stress can bring it on quite unexpectedly, and in such cases, it takes him especially long to return to wakefulness.”

“But in my… visions? I saw Odin, alive, awake, and well.”

Loki’s smirk was devilish. “Ah, but is that the only Odin you saw?” He caught the look in Tony’s eyes, and suddenly, instead of Lyell in his bed, there was Natasha. Then Steve, then Clint, then Bruce. Tony covered his eyes before he could see worse, like, heaven forbid, Rhodey or Thor. Loki cackled. “Come now, Stark. Have you really not figured it out, yet?”

And… Tony understood, in one utterly sickening moment of clarity. He stared at Loki in a mixture of shock, awe, and horror. “How long, Loki? How long has it been since the Dark Elves attacked and you were released?”

Loki, theatrically, took his time about thinking. “Hmm. I would suppose that’s been nearly a year ago, now, surely.”

Tony nearly flailed, he was so worked up. “But how? Wouldn’t someone notice Odin’s absence when you’re here, when you’re off in Jotunheim and god knows where else?” Tony’s voice was a little desperate.

Loki tsked, and suddenly there were a multitude of him about the room. A second later, and Tony was surrounded by each and every member of the Avengers. They cackled in unison with Loki, who remained in his bed. With a wave of Loki’s hand, they all fell into different motions, spoke to each other, disappeared. “It’s really no effort to make a convincing projection.”

Tony really couldn’t decide if he was awed or terrified. “So, you’ve been running Asgard. For nearly a year. How has nobody noticed that? How has THOR not noticed that?”

Loki returned to caressing Tony’s arm, soothingly this time. “My brother never was very observant.” Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. “I never wanted to subjugate Asgard, Anthony. I didn’t want to destroy it. I just wanted to be its king. Currently, I’d say I’m doing a far better job than Odin. Had Odin had his way in the battle with the Dark Elves, Asgard would be nothing but rubble now, and the universe returned to the blackness that existed before the nine realms were created.” His caresses halted for a moment. “Is it really so hard to believe that I have no ulterior motives, no nefarious schemes?”

Tony wound his fingers through Loki’s hair, bringing their faces together and languidly pressing his lips to Loki’s. Then he grinned. “A little, yeah.” Loki growled and pinned him to the bed. “And I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but apparently I find that pretty hot.” He waggled his eyebrows, and Loki looked utterly disgusted, but begrudgingly amused, as he huffed and rolled away from Tony.

Tony curled himself along Loki’s back, settling his glowing palm over the mark on Loki’s chest. “I don’t think you’re evil, Loki. Deranged, manipulative, a bit of a sadist, yes. But it’s been a long time since I’ve thought you honestly wanted a reign of terror and world domination.” Loki made no response, but Tony could tell how avidly he was listening. He pressed a kiss behind Loki’s ear. “You’ve not started a revolt thus far, so you can relax, I’m not going to tell Thor as long as you seem to be behaving yourself. At any rate, I think you’re going to be busy enough in the near future that the least of our worries is how convincingly you’re playing Odin.” Loki made a noncommittal sound in reply. “Don’t pretend I don’t know that you’re leaving again to find those fucking Infinity Gems. It’s an insult to my intelligence.” Tony made a noise of frustration as Loki remained turned away from him. “I wish I could do something, but I don’t think my abilities are quite on par with intergalactic travel yet, and SHIELD might miss me.”

Finally, Loki turned in his arms, very uncharacteristically tolerant of the contact, the affection. “You can help me with the first part. It will be easiest to hunt down Amora. She won’t have wondered off too far, with my brother here on earth. At least, she won’t for long. We need merely wait for her to make another appearance, and I will be able to sense her magic. If we are lucky, Thanos will have entrusted use of the staff to her, since he is too far away to easily access, even for a sorceress with Amora’s powers.” He searched Tony’s face, for what, Tony wasn’t certain. “If she is indeed his new servant, we can relieve her of the staff. I can put it in a pocket dimension that is only accessible to me. Then, I will have to track down the Collector.”

Loki was asking for a lot of trust on this one. An equal amount of trust to that he had expressed in Tony the night before. Loki, gallivanting through space with a mind controlling magical staff that was apparently far more powerful than he and SHIELD had even guessed at, collecting even more items of equal power. Tony, facing down Amora with Loki at his side, when she and Loki had been allies. It was a lot to risk, but if Loki was telling the truth, and Thanos beat them to the gems, there was going to be a lot worse fallout than Tony getting reamed by Loki, Amora, the Avengers, and SHIELD.

He pressed an insultingly sloppy kiss to the tip of Loki’s nose, pleased as he wrinkled it in disgust, and curled himself back around the god for a bit more shuteye. Or, at least, to pretend to get a bit more shuteye. There were a lot of thoughts whirling around his head, and most of them were distinctly not conducive to sleep. However, if this was the last opportunity he had to curl up like this with the Trickster, he was going to take full advantage of it.


	5. We're off to Hunt Moose and Squirrel

The past week of playing house with Loki had been disconcerting, to say the least. Pepper was disgustingly pleased with his return, and made no qualms about making it blatantly obvious. Tony would feel a tad betrayed, if he weren’t feeling so blissfully not in pain and well rested. Bruce, beautiful, wonderful, fantastic Bruce, didn’t say a word about Loki’s return, other than to take Tony aside and run a battery of tests on him to make sure that his systems were, in fact, back to normal (or whatever “normal” was for Tony, now).

Tony and Loki were not overtly affectionate, were not a couple, did not do warm and fuzzy and touchy feely. Tony and Lyell were a different story. They had an image to uphold, and by the end of the week, Tony’s wires were crossed from trying to keep it all straight in his head. When Loki was in his bed, he was Loki, and any hint of sentimentality was off limits. When they were outside of his bedroom and playing house with the Avengers, Loki was Lyell, and he was expected to be overtly fond, smotheringly affectionate. Tony thought he’d lose his mind if he had to spend much more time being in both close proximity to the Avengers and to Loki. That was, if Loki didn’t kill him first. This was the first time he’d spent this much consecutive time with the god with both of them conscious.

Fortunately, finally, one night at the beginning of the second week of uneventful, tortuous peace in the Tower, as they were watching a fucking ROM-COM in Tony’s living room, Loki curled up contentedly against his side, the rest of the Avengers munching on popcorn and making snippy comments at the flatscreen, Loki leaned over to murmur in his ear.

“Amora is here, somewhere on the planet.” Tony could feel a thrill of anticipation dance up his spine at the words.

He waited a beat, stood, and waggled his eyebrows at the team. “Guys,” at a glare from Natasha and Pepper, he quickly amended, “and gals, you wouldn’t mind terribly if Lyell and I call it an early night, would you?” At their disgusted groans, he made a theatrical bow. “It’s that honeymoon phase, you understand.” As they shooed them away, Loki following, smirking, just behind Tony, Tony made a beeline for his bedroom. Once they were there, he shut and bolted the door. “JARVIS, be a dear and turn on some romantic music, would you?”

Abruptly, Sarah McLaughlin filled the room. “Thank you, darling.”

“Anytime, Mr. Stark.” JARVIS’ voice was wry.

“So, where are we off to, Smurfette?” The glare Loki directed at him would have killed a weaker man right on the spot, but Tony bore it.

“Siberia, I’m afraid.” Loki practically beamed at Tony, and yeah, so, maybe Tony should cut back on the blue jokes. Especially if he wanted Loki to teach him how not to freeze to death with his magic before they went to confront magical space bitch and her crony.

  


Tony cursed, profusely, when Loki finished teleporting them to Siberia. His suit was protected against certain levels of cold, but Siberia was fucking freezing, and the environment looked no more hospitable than the weather. Loki smirked at him in satisfaction.

“So, where’s your brother’s fan girl, then?”

Tony just barely managed to duck the swing of the Uru staff in Amora’s hands. Shit. Well, that answered that question. He heard a roar, and risked taking a glance to see Loki fending off a blow from the Executioner’s battle ax. Tony really didn’t know which of them was more suited to their opponent, but he kind of would have preferred facing off with the one that didn’t have the glowstick of destiny and the magic to back it. As he watched the Executioner barrel into Loki full force, and the Jotunn go flying, he amended his opinion. He might be better off with magical space bitch and the glowstick of destiny, after all.

Amora kept trying to score a hit on him with the staff, but after watching braver souls than he get downed by its creepy mind control powers, Tony managed to keep feinting out of the way. She alternated attempting to make actual contact between him and the scepter with shooting off powerful blasts of its magic, and Tony was hard pressed to keep hauling ass out of the way, much less to initiate his own attack. He could hear the Executioner roaring somewhere in the distance behind him, but couldn’t spare a glance to see how well Loki was handling him.

Finally, maybe inevitably, as he attempted to shoot off a unibeam at Amora, she managed to tap the staff to his arc reactor. And yipes, neither the staff nor his reactor liked that. The explosion that resulted was of a proportion Tony thought he might have to get used to, if the last few weeks were any indication. At least Amora seemed equally incapacitated by it, and there was the added benefit of his having been expecting it. Thus, Tony managed to recover his faculties somewhat more quickly, made a mad dash to where Loki’s staff had landed, and wrapped his hand solidly around it before she shrieked with rage and found her footing again.

Tony immediately felt a surge of foreign power within him, directing his magic, and was shocked by it. It dwarfed the power that had pooled between him and Loki the night that Loki tried to separate their magic, dwarfed anything Tony had ever fathomed. It felt like it transformed him from the inside out, and suddenly, he knew clearly and undeniably why both Loki and Amora had been so furiously reluctant to part with it. It burned through his veins, but it was an intoxicating burn, and he felt the foreign power in his voice when he spoke.

“I’ll just be taking this.” He shot off a blast of energy even more powerful than the blast that had sent them both rocketing away from each other just a few moments ago, hitting Amora with it head on, relishing the scream of agony it wrought from her throat. Vaguely, he heard the anguished howl of the Executioner, and he turned to face where he and Loki had been battling. As he saw the Executioner rampaging toward him, he also took in the blanched color of Loki’s face. But the mere idea that the Executioner would try to challenge him, he who possessed such power, was laughable. He cackled with laughter before the beast came into perfect shooting range. He toyed with it, even let it get in a couple of swipes at him before he directed his power at it. The blast he released this time was even more powerful, tinged with his own magic, and it took a moment for him to register the hands on his shoulders, gripping him, as he relished the power inside of him, looked at the damage he had inflicted in delight.

When he noticed the hands that were shaking him, he nearly turned the staff on Loki, arresting the motion just in time. Loki’s fingers were digging at the joints of his faceplate, popping it back so he could look into Tony’s eyes.

“Anthony, you have to give me the scepter.” Tony snarled in response to the demand, wrenching away from Loki. He was horrified at what he’d almost done to Loki, but in seconds, at the idea that Loki desired to take the scepter from him, he was ready, once again, to turn it on Loki. To eliminate Loki.

“Anthony, listen to me. You almost killed Amora and the Executioner. The tiniest bit more power in those blasts and you would have.” He paused, defiantly searching Tony’s eyes. “Now, you want to kill me for the mere suggestion that I could take it from you. Think, Anthony. Think. Do you really want to kill me? Is that really what you want? Or is it the staff influencing you?”

Tony growled in frustration, inhuman blue seeping into his eyes, making them glow. “The staff is mine now. I wield it. I control it. I will relinquish it to no one.”

Loki’s own eyes were fierce as they met Tony’s. “Stark, you do not have the power to wield the staff without it wielding you. You cannot control it. If you do not separate yourself from its influence now, then Thanos has already won. He will make you his new puppet, and you will be completely unable to resist. You will have already granted him the power of the staff, and when he invades, when he comes to slaughter both your people and mine, you will willingly hand it over to him and smile at him as he kills you.”

Tony wrenched away from Loki, snarling in anger. “Lies. All that ever comes from your mouth is lies. Why would you tell the truth now, when you stand to gain so much, and I have so very much to lose? Why would you be honest with me, you who do not know the meaning of the word?”

Loki threw himself at Tony, tackling him to the ground and pressing a fierce kiss against his lips. He pressed his lips to Tony’s ear and hissed, “Because you are mine, you daft mortal, and I will let no one else have you. I will let no one else kill you. You belong to ME.”

The part of Tony that was controlled by the staff was spitting with anger, but the small part of Tony that remained aware and conscious of the wrongness of the situation couldn’t help but be pleased by the declaration. When Loki pressed his lips to Tony’s again, he responded with equal fervor. Loki managed to wrench the staff away from him, continuing to kiss him even as he slipped it into a pocket dimension. He pulled away from Tony, panting and flushed, and watched as the eerie blue faded from Tony’s eyes.

Tony groaned. “Not one word from you about this, Stark.” Loki stood and put some distance between them, going to examine the still forms of Amora and the Executioner.

“Shit. Fuck. That was horrifying.” Tony's brain was finally back online. Loki hummed noncommittally as he bent down beside of the still figures of the Asgardian and her lackey. “Loki, are they… did I kill them?”

“No, Anthony, they are yet alive, and though I believe it will take them a long while to recover, they are not in imminent danger.” Loki stood. “We had best make our way back to the Tower, though, before they wake.” He paused. “It will take some time for the effects of the scepter to wear off in their entirety, so it would probably be best if you avoid the other Avengers for a day or two.” He walked to Tony’s side. “I will delay my journey until I am certain you have recovered completely.” He grasped Tony’s hand, lacing their fingers together, and briefly met his eyes before he teleported them. Tony thought he saw something like relief in them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Letzi has, once again, lovely art for this chapter: http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/101245777844/frostiron-bang-2014-a-service-rendered-by


	6. Off to Find the Wizard, or that Dude with the Crappy Goatee in Space

Tony decided that in the interest of not accidentally going postal on his teammates, he and Loki should find another locale to hole away in for the time being, so once they were back in New York, he hired a cab to take them to the family mansion he hadn’t visited in years. Despite his avoidance of the place, it had all of the usual amenities of a Stark dwelling, and the added boon that only Pepper knew about it. Well, probably SHIELD did, as well, but he doubted that this would be one of the first places they would check for him. Loki called Pepper to let her know that they’d decided to take a little vacation for a few days, in the interest of “working on their relationship,” after their presumed breakup and recent reunion. By the time they reached the mansion, Tony’s head was feeling less muzzy, but he was exhausted. Loki followed him silently to the master suite, looking completely at home in the overly lavish and ornate setting that Tony’s parents had preferred.

Tony threw himself onto the giant bed, closed his eyes, and barely registered Loki slipping into the bed behind him before he fell asleep.

  


The next couple of days were very touch and go. The first morning, when they had woken up, Tony had nearly shot an explosive burst of magic at Loki for daring to brew his coffee the wrong way. When he’d come to his senses, he’d been mortified, and despite Loki’s surprising patience with him, it was clear that he was not amused. After the first time Loki had touched him unexpectedly and Tony had almost strangled him, they had adopted a hands off policy until they were convinced that the effects of the staff had fully dissipated.

It was trying for Tony. The smallest things would make him completely fly off the handle, out of proportion and violent reactions that resulted in the destruction of many no doubt priceless antiques in the mansion and making a bit of remodeling in the near future a necessity. In the moments he was possessed of his sanity, he found himself amazed at the finesse with which Loki handled his outbursts. The normally melodramatic deity kept his acerbic tongue leashed, never once rising to the barbs Tony knew he was flinging at him.

Finally, by the third day, while Tony was still irritable, he could refrain from fluctuating between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He found himself taking Loki on tours of the mansion, saving the room he was sure the god would enjoy the most for last. If he felt a little bit like he was ripping off Beauty and the Beast, so what. His mother’s library truly was a treasure. At any rate, he was pretty sure his behavior for the past few days was on par with the Beast’s. When he opened the doors to the room and saw the delighted smile that Loki didn’t quite manage to disguise in time, Tony thought the cliché was totally worth it. Somehow, they ended up spending an extra two days at the mansion, playing in the pool, enjoying the Jacuzzi, and rifling through the collection of rare books in the library.

It was probably the most peaceful and still he had ever seen Loki, and he imagined that much the same could be said of him. Spending such a large amount of time together, isolated from the outside world, was something new. It made… whatever the relationship between the two of them was seem to have a lot more gravity, all of the sudden. But there was only so long they could delay the inevitable, and finally they made their return to the Tower. While most of the other Avengers greeted them with knowing smirks, Natasha watched them silently, looking more suspicious than ever. Tony was almost certain she’d been snooping in his absence, and positive that SHIELD had been trying to figure out his true location after his little showdown with Amora and the Enforcer. Wonderful. He had hoped that they had managed to avoid detection, considering their quarry had been in Siberia of all places, but evidently not. If they could actually identify Loki in the footage, that could be a serious problem. Tony determined that he would go rifling through their encrypted servers again, as soon as Loki had left for his next little jaunt to Never-Never Land.

He didn’t have to wait long. That night, he went to bed curled around the Trickster, and when he woke the next morning, Loki was gone with nary a goodbye or a note. Not that Tony had expected any less. Thus, he was rather pleasantly surprised when, after a rather trying day of fucking with the video footage SHIELD had of him and Loki on their databases, as he crawled into bed and curled his arm under the pillow next to him, his hand brushed something cool and sharp. He cursed as he moved to grip it and felt the flesh of his thumb slice open. He pulled his hand out from underneath the pillow, opening it to find a lethally sharp and perfect pair of daggers tied together, crafted entirely of ice. When he tested the strength of one against the metal of the lamp on his nightstand, he found it to be stronger, slicing easily through it. He could feel the hint of cold emanating from within the dagger, and smiled, pleased beyond reason at the knowledge that Loki’s hands and Loki’s magic had crafted the beautiful but deadly little trinkets for him sometime before he slipped away.

  


Loki’s familiar energy hummed through Tony’s skin. His mind registered with detached surprise the strangeness of his foreign surroundings and the people, or more accurately creatures, occupying those surroundings. Most of them were a far cry from the human countenances that the Asgardians possessed, and even more unfathomably strange than the Frost Giants. Despite Tony’s misgivings, however, he could not shift his head or eyes to observe his surroundings and his feet continued to carry him determinedly toward some unknown destination. This time, it was only when he arrived in a dwelling that looked as though it were in the midst of repair from some disastrous explosion and opened his mouth to speak that he realized his body was not his own and that he was but a passenger.

The Collector gazed at Loki with eyes that were somehow both listless and vengeful as he spread his arms in a gesture that encompassed the hollowed out ruin of the space around them. He shook his head and laughed mirthlessly.

Tony paid attention to Loki’s words this time when he spoke. “And what of Malekith? Surely you did not let him escape your grasp as well as all of the other items you were charged with.” Tony could see the man across from him stiffen.

“Unfortunately for you, Laufeyson, I know nothing of where Malekith currently resides, save for that it is not here.” He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture more mocking than self-deprecating. “Were I you, I would be certain I found what you seek before he does.”

Tony could feel the flare of fierce and biting fury that welled inside of Loki, but Loki’s voice was calm when he responded. “You had best hope for your own sake that he has not already acquired it.” As Loki’s magic flared with his teleportation, Tony’s eyes flew open.

  


Now, whenever Tony shut his eyes, he slipped into Loki’s skin. But unlike before, his magic was stable, not clamoring like damaged nerve endings after a lost limb. These visions were no longer distressing nor disjointed, and eventually Tony realized he could feel the gentle hum of Loki’s emotions and intentions just as he could see from his eyes and hear from his ears. While it should be disconcerting, these little jaunts into outer space were fascinating to Tony, and as he observed Loki and Loki’s magic, he could tell he was learning, almost soaking up the knowledge without conscious thought as he felt the proper heft and flow of the magic.

Soon, Tony decided to attempt teleporting for himself. He only tested it within the confines of his lab, and did not attempt to go further than from one end of his lab bench to the other. He expected the results to be disastrous, and couldn't contain a relieved and exultant chuckle when he landed successfully on the other side in a puff of some substance that resembled smoke.

Curious, Tony flexed his fingers, pulling on the flickering core of magic he could always feel now, sleepless inside of him. His eyes leached glowing blue as sparks of magic gathered in his palm, growing into a pulsating ball of flame inside of his hand. Tony could feel the power radiating from him and, disconcerted, closed his hand around it and snuffed it out.

  


When Loki returned this time, empty-handed, Tony was vaguely expecting him. However, that wasn't to say he was expecting him at the precise moment that he appeared, with Tony elbows deep in a test run on his newest suit. Unbeknownst to Tony, his eyes were swirling with the blue of his magic, and he was deeply in communion with the machines around him, fully employing the technopathic abilities he gained through his little experiment with Extremis. When he heard a throat being pointedly cleared, he whirled around, magic sparking from his fingertips, the machines in the lab turning with him in his distraction.

“You might want to be a bit more discreet, Stark. If I’d been any of your dear Avengers, the cat would rather be out of the bag.” Loki’s eyes on his were calculating. He stepped closer to Tony, eyes skimming over the technology in the room. “That being said, Stark, I’d like to know how exactly you are communing with your machines, because it’s certainly not your magic.” His eyes narrowed. “Whatever it is, it is not something I’ve encountered before. It feels organic, but unnatural, somehow.”

Tony had a bit of trouble refraining from shuffling his feet. This part he still hadn’t even gotten around to sharing with Bruce. He could tell from Loki’s expression that this wasn’t something he was going to let go, and he had no idea how the god would react to his... friend with benefits? Lover? Fuck buddy?... telling him that he’d been doing potentially life threatening experiments on himself with a dangerous and unstable substance, no matter that Tony was a genius. His eyes had shifted away from Loki, and he was simultaneously startled, insulted, and amused when Loki took his jaw between his fingers and turned his head to face him, arching an expectant brow.

“I might have started injecting myself with Extremis a while back.” As he saw Loki’s eyes widen, whether in surprise or anger, he wasn't sure, he took up babbling. “Well, a modified version of Extremis. I tweaked it. The intention was to make it actually stable, and it had some unforeseen results. I guess there’s still a bit of the fire thing going on, but I can’t really tell if that’s more the magic or the Extremis, but yeah. So, I can commune with machines now. Ta-da!” At a thought from him, Butterfingers whirred over with a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey. “Care for a drink, darling?”

Loki held up a forestalling hand and raised his other hand to rub at his eyes like he had the beginnings of a headache. He grabbed the shot glass from the bot and poured until it was all but overflowing. He quickly drained it and flopped down into a chair.

“How long ago did you start taking it, Stark?”

“Just after the battle with the Other.” Loki stared down at his shot glass, deep in thought, and Tony went over and refilled it, flopping down to sit beside of him.

“And there have been no... adverse effects?”

Tony tapped his fingers against his knee, contemplating. “Not that I’ve been able to tell. Then, it would be hard, what with suddenly developing magic, and slowly starting to de-age.” Loki looked at him sharply at that. Tony fingered the corner of his eye where a few months ago crows feet had hinted at his age. They were still there, of course, and the alterations in him weren’t dramatic enough yet for someone to notice if they weren't actively looking for it, but his fine lines had lessened, the intermittent hints of gray in his hair dissipated. He looked a good five years younger, by his estimation. He could see Loki’s eyes widen slightly in realization.

Loki reached out to ghost his fingers over Tony’s temples, where a few sprigs of gray had been present when they first started this daft arrangement. “This is certainly unexpected. You’ve been discussing this with Bruce?” At Tony’s nod, he seemed to relax a bit. “What has he found?”

“Not much. Before I began taking Extremis, he could tell my cells had stopped aging, that my healing was accelerating. They seem to be... regenerating, I guess. He doesn’t really know what it’s going to mean in the long term, but at any rate, I’m probably looking at a bit of an extended life span, at least.” Tony didn’t really know how to feel about that part. He and Bruce hadn’t voiced it aloud, but it was the logical conclusion of what little they had been able to figure out about Tony’s body, post magic. “I didn’t let him run tests after I started Extremis, not until you left that last time.” Loki’s eyes quickly flashed with something that almost looked like guilt, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. “He could tell that the magic was attacking me, and he seemed pretty convinced that the whole regenerative shit was all that was keeping it from kind of eating me alive, if you will.” Loki’s jaw was clenched in displeasure. Tony was really curious about that reaction.

“At any rate, no harm, no foul. We fixed it, and apparently, while I’m not on par with an Asgardian or a Jotunn physiology wise yet, I’m certainly a far cry above your average Midgardian.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Come on, you know the robot thing is totally cool. I’m like, Charles Xavier with machines, or some shit.”

Loki rolled his eyes and stood, walking over to run his fingers across the new armor Tony was working on. “My jaunt into space was not nearly as successful as I’d hoped. I wanted to come back to see how things were on Midgard before I ventured off to find the one gem that I know the location of.” He turned back to Tony. “You’ve had no more visits from Gamora, or from any other of Thanos’ servants?” Tony shook his head. “And what of SHIELD?”

“I’ve been rather painstakingly scouring their databases to make sure they don’t get their hands on anything too incriminating. I’m still worried that Fury saw footage of the incident with Gamora before I could get to it, though.” He stood, beginning to pace. “At any rate, while he might have his eye on me, more so than usual,” he glared at Loki’s snort in response to that statement, “he hasn’t actually called me in for anything out of the norm, yet.”

Loki came to stand in front of him, halting his pacing. “I suppose I should be off, then, if there’s been no sign of trouble from Thanos or his minions here.” His eyes scanned Tony’s face, searching, but for what, Tony had no idea. “Do try not to make any more potentially dangerous and permanent alterations to your body while I’m away, Stark, even if they are useful.” Tony started to make an acerbic response, but before he could form the words, Loki’s lips were pressed firmly against his. He hummed softly in surprise, readily leaning into Loki and returning the kiss. As he started to bring his arms up to grip Loki’s shoulders, he was met with nothing but air. He jumped in surprise, flailing for a moment, and he swore he could hear Loki’s laughter as he cursed.


	7. Barney Makes his Move

When Tony woke the next night, hours before dawn, he was drenched with sweat and shivering. He could tell, through the haziness of his mind, that this was no mere fever. He could feel the magic pulsing inside of him, and god was he ever so fucking tired of this magic induced bullshit. However, this didn’t feel like the incident betwixt his and Loki’s magic. When he managed to sit up and turn on the light, he was horrified to find his skin painted with glowing blue from his veins. The light of his arc reactor was flickering with different shades of blue, its steady hum now a near violent pulse of power against his flesh.

He could feel the magic pushing, probing, and his body was revolting against it. His grip on consciousness was loosening, and as he felt the magic pulling him to teleport, he lost the battle, blacking out.

  


Loki just barely had time to register the energy of teleportation before the blow came to the back of his head, sending him sprawling. Then, most horrifying of all, he felt a piece of his own magic, forged together with foreign magic that he was oh too familiar with along with the untrained hum of Tony’s own power, reaching inside of the magical barriers he kept about himself to access the pocket dimensions he kept at hand. It was a dirty trick. The only way to invade that sort of barrier was to turn the user’s magic against them, and Thanos had certainly succeeded, harnessing the pieces of Loki’s magic that were contained in Tony through the remnants of his own that also resided in the mortal.

He managed to turn himself over, looking up to meet Tony’s eyes. They were glowing with foreign magic as he held the uru staff before him and his mouth was curled in a wicked semblance of a smile. Loki could see the stain of magic distorting the color of the mortal’s veins, making him appear deranged and diseased.

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but the voice that came forth was not his own. “Loki Lost-One, you know better than to cross me. Now I am taking back that which I entrusted to you.” Tony’s foot raised and planted itself on Loki’s chest. “However, I will not kill you now. I will even return your foolish mortal to you, of a fashion.” The foot pressed. “I will leave you to wonder, incessantly, when next I will turn him against you. I have not yet decided whether I like the idea of your dying at his hands or making you watch him die by his own hand better. I will let you suffer to wonder, every moment, which I will choose and when I will choose it.”

Loki lay still beneath Tony’s boot, eyes narrowed in fury. He felt the energy of teleportation again, recognizing Amora’s magic. She cackled as she took in the sight before her, and easily took the staff from Tony’s hand. The Executioner started to run forward, likely to attempt to pummel both Loki and Tony’s body into the ground. At Amora’s staying hand, he stilled.

“Leave them to each other. We have what we came for. The Mad Titan surely has a most sordid plan for them.” Again she cackled, and the pair disappeared in an overwhelming swirl of her acidic green magic.

As Loki watched warily from the ground, Thanos gave a final smirk in Tony’s skin, then his magic slowly began to dissipate from the mortal’s eyes. He saw Tony’s muscles go lax and his body begin to lurch forward. He quickly regained his feet, catching him. When Tony gave no sign of waking, he pulled him up into his arms and against his chest, gripping him tightly as he teleported them both back to the Tower. 

  


When Tony next opened his eyes, it was to see Loki hovering over him, eyebrows drawn tightly together and lips pressed into a thin line. Tony gave a small groan, feeling as though he’d ran headfirst into a sledgehammer. As he struggled to full consciousness he bolted upright, remembering the malicious presence that had been crawling through his mind and through his skin, remembering what he’d done to Loki. What he’d done to them. Now, Thanos controlled one of the Infinity Gems, and through it, he could control the minds of any beings he wished, if Loki was correct in believing it was the Mind Gem. They’d still not located the Aether, the Tesseract, or retrieved the gem on Nova Prime. They’d not found out anything about the last two gems.

He felt Loki’s fingers run through his hair, uncharacteristically affectionate. “What do you remember?”

Tony didn’t turn to face him. “Everything.” Neither spoke for several moments. “He can do it again. Anytime, Loki. I can’t be trusted.” Loki sighed behind him. “I need to know that you won’t let me hurt anyone, that I won’t betray my friends. I don’t care what you have to do.”

Loki stood and began to pace. “You would really ask this of me, Stark? After everything? You would still ask this of me?” He turned to Tony and his eyes were flashing with some emotion Tony couldn’t name.

“I would, Loki, and I do.”

Loki’s expressive features shuttered and went blank. “Very well, then.” And with that, the Trickster disappeared.

  


Tony was patrolling the city for Hydra agents along with the rest of the Avengers when he was blindsided again. It couldn’t have come at a worse time or in a worse area, either. It was the busiest part of the day and he was com-linked with the rest of the team. The city was teaming with people, and he was near Time Square. This time, when she barreled into him, for all that he was still surprised, he wasn’t off-guard like before. He grabbed her about the shoulders as she made impact, and they hurtled, spinning, toward the ground together. Their impact left him aching, and when he stood, he saw a small crater had formed in the pavement. People were running and screaming now, vehicles honking loudly, as everything quickly descended into chaos.

Cap was frantically shouting into his ear, trying to get a response, to figure out what had gone down, and Tony heartlessly disabled the com-link as he faced his opponent. Now, as she stood before him, she looked different than before. He skin was a light teal, her hair a black that shimmered greenly in the sunlight, and the eyes that met his were a glowing gold. Regardless, he still recognized her features, could see Loki in them, and after becoming intimately acquainted with the expanse of Loki’s magnificent indigo skin, he could see it so much more clearly with her in this form, regardless of the fact that her eyes were no longer Loki’s looking back at him.

However, he didn’t get time to be curious as she began to pelt him with flaming balls of teal magic that screamed of Loki. Tony did his best to evade them, did his best to keep from having to reveal the truth of his changed nature to all of New York City and then some, but it was difficult when he was facing a sorceress that was every bit Loki’s match with magic and every bit Thor’s match with a sword.

As he zipped along the skyline, doing his best to fly out of the way of pedestrians and skyscrapers alike, to move them away from the heart of the city, she teleported to thwart him at every turn, bringing her sword down heavily, burning with magical fire, and nearly destroying his suit and taking his arm with it. He feinted away, setting off a unibeam which cost him precious moments and which she easily evaded. He could feel his magic humming, discontent, inside his veins. Okay, then. Time for a different strategy.

He began to pursue her, pushing her slowly, irrevocably away from the most populated areas. It was slow and rough going, and it seemed like every time he gained an inch, he promptly lost a foot. Finally, though, he had her away from the city’s prying eyes and the chaos that had descended in Gamora’s wake. But then, wouldn’t you fucking know it, his teammates showed up, Pepper and Rhodey included. Even Thor was there for the meet and greet, and Tony would be praying, if he believed in it, that Thor had never seen his brother in his true skin, that Gamora didn’t glamour herself back into her human appearance. Because there was no way in hell, no matter how oblivious Thor could be about Midgardian customs and technology, that the big guy would not notice that the rabid she-demon looked just like his precious baby brother. That would so raise some questions that Tony really didn’t need to be answering.

Deciding it would ultimately be preferential to hear what was going on with the other members of his own personal circus, regardless of the tongue lashing he was about to get, Tony turned his com-link back on. He barely avoided a ball of green flame for his efforts as the furious racket of his teams’ questions assaulted him simultaneously.

“Jesus fuck, guys, give it a rest until we can get her to quit trying to fry me with her magical hoodoo shit.” He could practically feel the waves of Cap’s disapproval wafting over the com-link, despite his complying with Tony’s request. Not that it actually did him any good. Whether she was faced with one Tony, or the whole of the Avengers, Gamora had her shit together. Their superior numbers didn’t seem to phase her. And oh holy fuck she had just pulled Loki’s cloning bullshit.

As she began to cackle with malicious glee, swathed with the glowing green of her power, her resemblance to Tony’s lover was suddenly furiously unnerving. He could tell that the move had seriously disconcerted his team, as well. They obviously were acutely aware of the last time they had faced a sorcerer of this caliber, and he would eat his socks if Thor wasn’t extremely suspicious based on her battle tactics and magic alone.

While Gamora easily avoided the efforts of his teammates to incapacitate her, she made no efforts to harm them, either. It was damningly obvious that Tony was the sole target of her attack. With Thanos having the Mind Gem and full and complete access to Tony through his magic, Tony had no idea why Gamora would still be fucking with him and Loki. He had no idea why Thanos didn’t just take control of him again, get him to go with Gamora or allow her to finish him off, if that was the objective. He just couldn’t figure it out.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble beneath Tony’s feet. Everyone paused as the shaking increased. Tony kept his eyes on Gamora, who was looking distinctly displeased, perhaps even a bit uneasy. The closer whatever it was came to them, the greater was the displeasure he saw on her face. If whatever it was unnerved her so much, it would either be terrible or wonderful for himself and the Avengers. As he heard the first horrified gasp behind him, Tony made the mistake of turning around. What he saw made even him horrified.

The wolf was absolutely giant. It towered above them, each step made with its mighty paws causing the ground to shudder beneath them. If it accidentally stepped on any of them, besides the Hulk, they would be crushed, no doubt about it. The thing was, quite literally, larger than a house. Everything about it was pitch black, save for the golden eyes that stared down at them with too much intelligence. It raised its mighty head and howled, and Tony felt pure terror running down his spine as the sound reverberated around them, probably throughout the entire city. He didn’t doubt it could overwhelm the sounds of sirens and street noise easily. Then, the monstrous creature made a swipe with one of its gargantuan paws, bowling over the rest of the Avengers and separating Tony from them.

As he watched on in horror, Gamora grabbed him from behind, and he felt the air warp around him as they teleported away. When they arrived at their new location, Tony looked on his surroundings with a creeping sense of horror. He did not recognize anything. There was nothing to recognize. There was no way that they were still on earth. They had landed on barren rocks that seemed to be floating in the vastness of space. As Tony took in his surroundings, he realized that Gamora was making no move to attack him, and when he turned to face her, her lips were curved in a familiar smirk.

“Now, we have no interruptions, mortal. Now, there is no holding back.” And with that, she raised a glowing green fist and stripped Tony of his armor. “Now, you have no choice but to fight with nothing but your own power against mine.”

When she hurled the first blast of flame, Tony was ready, reciprocating it with his own. The collision of magical fire created an explosive burst of force, nearly knocking him off his feet, but, prepared this time, he quickly teleported away from the blast. She was there to meet him, go figure. Her arms wound tightly around him, hand seeking his arc reactor. Yeah, that was so not happening. In a quick burst of genius, Tony summoned the icy dagger Loki had forged him as a parting gift. He stuck it between her ribs, whirling away from her as she sucked in a sharp breath of air in surprise. As he looked at the blood on the dagger in his hand, he was surprised to note that it was a deep purple instead of the teal of her skin or the indigo of Loki’s blood. Not a full blooded frost giant, then? He supposed it made sense, given her coloring. Before, he had assumed that perhaps frost giants came in different shades of blue. Now, he wasn’t so sure. It seemed a bit of a stretch that the color difference would extend to blood.

She gave a furious scream and launched herself at him again. Over and over their magic clashed against each others’. Over and over again neither combatant’s power was able to prove itself greater. Unmovable force met with unmovable force, resulting in greater and greater ricocheting explosions of power that made Tony dizzy, his eyes blinded by starbursts of light and his ears ringing despite the dark void of space they were in.

As they both stared across the waste of rock they battled upon what seemed like endless hours later, but could have been mere moments for all Tony could judge the passage of time in the unchanging vacuum around them, Gamora began to speak.

“You are not the man I thought, Anthony Stark. You are proving yourself to be a worthy opponent. But nonetheless, you will lose.” She smiled and her eyes glinted with terrible mirth. “I will show you just how much you stand to lose, when I defeat you, that I may see you crumple at my feet.” She raised a hand with her palm turned upward. Magic glittered at her fingertips, and soon, the familiar eerie blue of the Tesseract hovered above her hand. “The Tesseract. The Space Gem. It is known by many names, and has served many purposes. I believe you are aware of the power it holds?” Upon seeing Tony’s horror, she continued. “When I found it in the wreckage of the Collector’s lair, I collected it for myself. I have not let it within Thanos’ reach. Yet.” The look she directed at him was cruel. “Should you best me, it is yours, to do with as you and the Liesmith please. However, I would recommend that, if you by some miracle manage to earn it, you do not leave it in your own possession. If you do, all of your brilliant struggle to defeat me will have been for naught.” With a twirl of her fingers, the Tesseract was gone once again.

Tony lunged for her, grappling to pin her. As he did, he felt a flash of magic behind him and tensed, until he realized it was familiar. Loki’s green magic wrapped around her, pinning her thrashing limbs.

“Your partner led me on a merry chase in order to keep me away from your battle. It seems he has done the same with the Avengers. To what purpose, I wonder? Would it not do you more good to expose us, if your intent is not, as it seems, to destroy us, but to toy with us?” Loki spat the words at her, his magic flickering wildly with his mood. Tony pushed with his own magic to force Gamora down, eyes crackling with blue fire, as Loki came to stand over her. His fingers burned with green light as he reached into the space around her. His hands moved restlessly for a few moments and then his eyes sparked with triumph. He pulled them away from her, and with them came the Tesseract. “My, my. Whatever do we have here?” Loki vanished it into a pocket dimension. “You possess my eyes, my hair, and nearly possess my Jotunn skin. You use my magic tricks, your very magic is near identical to mine, else I would not have been able to steal from you so easily. Who are you really, Gamora? How did you come to be, and how have you come to be in this time and place?”

Gamora laughed, mirthlessly. ‘’It burns you to know just how many of your secrets I possess, does it not, Fader?” The expression she directed at them was triumphant, not cowed. “The answers will find you soon enough, whether you are ready for them or not. I only pray that you will live to see them all born to life.” Despite their restraining magic, she disappeared beneath Tony’s hands.

Tony looked around himself in disbelief. “Do we really have the fucking Tesseract? And what was that fucking shit? Wait, did she say that you ran into the wolf from hell, too? Just. Jesus. What the fuck just happened, Loki?”

Amazingly, Loki began to laugh in great guffawing bursts. Eventually, he flopped down onto the rock beside of Tony, his laughter slowly dying down. Once he had expended his mirth, he looked over at the confused mortal.

“Yes, we have the Tesseract. Yes, I saw the wolf. But Norns know what else just happened here.” They sat in silence for a few peaceful moments.

“Loki, what is this place? Don’t get me wrong, the view is kind of nice, despite it being dark and desolate as fuck, but it’s kind of fucking creepy.”

Loki hummed, thoughtfully. “This is where I once held commune with the Other, and through him, with Thanos.”

Tony shuddered. “So what, was the peeping Tom looking in on us for all of that? Is he going to be gunning to reclaim the Tesseract?”

“Thanos is likely always watching us, Anthony, through your eyes. If he’d wanted to stop what just transpired, he could have at any moment.”

“Then what the fuck is going on? Why would he just let us make off with one of the Infinity Gems? Is he just fucking with us, letting us get our hopes up, only for him to reclaim it or thoroughly smash our skulls into the pavement later?”

Loki looked thoughtful in the face of Tony’s discomfiture. “Were I to guess, I would say that he wants us to be more worthy foes, and thus, more worthy sacrifices.”

Yeah, Tony definitely did not like where that train of thought was going. He’d venture it was even worse than what he’d been thinking.

“Come, Stark. We should leave this place. No doubt you are needed by your motley band of renegades after your sudden disappearance.” Tony groaned aloud at the thought of trying to explain this away to the rest of the Avengers. Especially considering they’d all be there en mass to interrogate him.

Loki grabbed him by the back of the neck, and the next thing he knew, he was standing, still sans his Iron Man suit, in the middle of an alley in Manhattan. He couldn’t see Loki, but he could still feel the gentle pressure of his fingers on his neck. He felt his breath brush across his ear as he spoke.

“Good luck, mortal. I shall meet you back at the Tower, in your lab.”

Despite the fact that having Lyell, let alone Loki, around right now would just be digging himself deeper into the mire, Loki’s retreat felt far too smug. He took a breath, braced himself, and turned to scan the alley. In short order, he was surrounded by his teammates. Tony found himself wildly surprised as Cap thrust him into the wall of the building behind him, hand fisted in Tony’s shirt.

“What the FUCK Tony! Where were you?”

“I see Fido didn’t eat anyone. That’s good. Say, where did Fido go?”

“He disappeared as soon as he’d distracted us long enough for you to disappear with that crazy green alien lady.” Steve’s eyes were hard as they pinned Tony. Hard and suspicious. “Who was she Tony? You didn’t seem surprised to see her.”

Natasha and Clint stood silently behind Steve. They looked calm, but Tony had the feeling if he didn’t bullshit them convincingly right now, they’d pull their weapons on him in a heartbeat. Pepper and Rhodey’s face plates were lifted and they wore expressions of concern that, while less suspicious than Steve’s, were all the more disappointed.

Bruce was wrapped in a trenchcoat, the tattered remains of the rest of his clothes in his hands, and Tony could feel the guilt radiating off of him. He’d have to at least share some of the truth with Bruce, later. He didn’t know how much, though. He didn’t want to increase the burden of the secrets that were piling up on his best friend.

Most concerning, however, was the look of contemplation on Thor’s face. He had recognized something in Gamora, before they’d disappeared. Tony just hoped he hadn’t recognized too much, like Tony had the first time he was faced with the female likeness of his lover. The last thing he needed was for Thor to start chipping away at the mystery in his head, for Thor to put together the puzzle that was there, as plain as day to see if only you knew what to look for.

“Guys, I have no idea who crazy space bitch is.” He held up his hands to forestall the arguments he could see brewing on his more vocal teammates’ faces. “Yes, okay, alright. I’ve ran into her before. Much like I ran into her today. She popped up out of nowhere, when I was alone flying in the suit a little while back. Pummeled the shit out of me, only to disappear when I finally got the upper hand. She definitely didn’t seem discouraged when she left, and I had a feeling she’d be back. But it wasn’t like there was much time for conversation, what with her aggressively trying to kill me.” He sighed when he saw their doubtful expressions. “Look, I get it, I know. I’m a talker. Sure I babbled the whole damn time, but couldn’t get a rise out of her for anything. She doesn’t slip up. If she doesn’t want to spill anything, you’re getting nothing out of her.”

Natasha finally piped up. “Why doesn’t SHIELD have footage of your first encounter with her? Director Fury would have notified the team.” Unspoken was the fact that she would have likely accessed the files before anyone, save for Director Fury, would have had a chance to.

“Hell if I know. Magic? She’s packing plenty of it, that’s for sure.” Natasha’s eyes narrowed, thoughtfully, at his response. He was so not about that.

“You are right, Tony Stark. The woman did have strong magic, indeed. Magic that I have only seen wielded by my brother and his ilk. So soon after Amora’s theft of Loki’s staff and discovering that my brother is, indeed, still alive, it makes one wonder. Surely the appearance of three such powerful sorcerers in our midst is no coincidence.” Thor looked disheartened, tormented, even. “I fear there is some greater scheme at work here, and there is no more likely culprit than my brother.”

“And we still have no explanation for why he saved Tony.” Clint’s voice was full of venom. The look in his eyes was merciless.

Pepper interjected. “Enough, Clint. I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating. In case you’ve forgotten, I was there for that battle. I almost died. Loki is the reason I’m alive, too. Tony and I barely survived that attack. I don’t know how or why Loki killed that thing, but I’m glad he did. Maybe you should think about that before you start pointing fingers.”

Rhodey looked thoughtful. “I agree with you, Pepper, I do. But we still don’t even know why that thing attacked you and Tony, and the more I think about it, in light of today, the more it seems to me that it was probably after Tony, not you. There’s more to this. I don’t think Tony would betray us, but I don’t believe for a second that there isn’t something serious going on here.”

Steve turned to Bruce. “What do you think, Banner?”

Bruce’s eyes were flecked with mutable green when he looked up at them. “I trust Tony, Steve. With my life. With all of our lives. I think we should remember that’s what really matters, here.” He walked over to wrap his arm around Tony’s shoulders. “If we can’t trust each other, we’ve already lost.”

Tony took a moment to soak up the warmth of Bruce’s faith in him. But he still had to know. “But seriously, guys, what happened to the dog?”


	8. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Amazingly, Tony made it back to the Tower in one piece. He hastily retreated to his lab, and once there, made sure to bar anyone from gaining entry. He was completely unsurprised when invisible hands covered his eyes, Loki’s body pressed warmly against his spine. His lover slowly made himself visible, laughing lowly at the consternation on Tony’s face.

“Geeze, Casper, thanks for the moral support back there, leaving me to the wolves like that.” Loki’s eyes fairly gleamed with amusement.

“Well, I very well couldn’t hang about for your teammates to notice me. Where would we be then?”

Tony snorted. “Says the man who can turn himself invisible. Yeah, I’m so convinced you left me out of concern for my safety.”

Loki tutted. “Now, Anthony, is that any way to be after your lover rescued you from the far and desolate reaches of space?”

“As if you haven’t noticed I’m perfectly capable of getting myself back home, now. Or haven’t you?” Tony teleported quickly behind Loki, wrapping his arms around him to tickle him. The god let out an undignified noise of distress, and Tony was so counting that as a win. Belatedly, Tony realized that Loki had referred to him as his lover, and he felt his cheeks flame slightly. Tony quickly shook off his surprised embarrassment, reluctantly ceasing his assault on Loki’s person and turning to face him.

“So, the Big Bad Wolf apparently disappeared shortly after Gamora and I did. Poof, nothing, nada. You said he came after you, as well?”

Loki nodded, thoughtfully. “There are plenty of tales of giant wolves and hounds in Norse mythology, and a good deal of them have roots in the myths and legends of Asgard. However, I could not say which I think it is, or why it would be on this plane.”

“I believe I can answer at least some of your questions.”

Loki and Tony quickly whirled around to face the intruder the voice had originated from. They were faced with a young boy with a wild mane of black hair and gleaming golden eyes. He did not look as though he could be older than ten.

“Whoa kid. I don’t know how the fuck you got in here, much less without raising a dozen alarms, but you really shouldn’t be here.” Tony would regret cursing in front of the brat, but no normal kid could have made it into the Tower, much less the lab.

The gaze that met his was that of a creature far older than ten. The boy’s flickering eyes were haunted, and for the first time, Tony noted how strange his clothing was. It looked kind of similar to garb he’d seen Loki and Thor in, albeit with far less leather and metal.

“I entered in much the same fashion as him,” the child stated, turning his eyes on Loki.

“Wonderful. Another bloody magician. Just what we need.” Tony threw his hands up in disgust, turning to pace, having decided that if the kid meant them harm, he would have tried something by now.

“Need I remind you that you are one of those ‘bloody magicians’ now, Stark?” Loki asked archly.

Tony pinned him with a glare before turning to face the magical brat again. “So, why are you here, rugrat? What is it you want?”

“I came to give you a warning.” The gaze that met his was unflinching.

“Well, alright, let’s have it then.” Tony’s patience, never exactly his best quality, was running rather thin. The kid was totally unnerving. There was something really not right about him.

“You mustn’t let Thanos find my sister in this reality. You must find her and keep her from him. Protect her. If you do not, you have already lost the war against him. If she is lost, so is your world, and many others with it. If he has her in his grasp, all of the Nine are in danger.”

“That’s all very well and good, kid, but who the fuck is your sister?”

“You have already met my sister. My twin.” He turned to glance at Loki. “Flesh of your flesh, blood of your blood.”

Loki blanched. “She is my daughter, then. But how? When?”

Tony’s mind churned as his brain came to the same obvious conclusion. “And if Gamora is your daughter, then you’re his son.” The boy inclined his head, ever so slightly. Tony narrowed his eyes. “But what about you? Does Thanos own you, too?” The look the boy turned on him clearly said yes. “Then why aren’t you all crazy, like your sister? Don’t we need to find you, to keep you from Thanos, too?”

“It would be... prudent, yes.” The boy looked hesitant. “When I am in this form, I am no great danger. I am able to resist him.”

“This form?” Loki piped up. “You mean to say you possess another, then?”

The kid smiled and holy shit human children should not have teeth like that. The little guy was fanged and the grin looked infinitely creepy. “I believe you’ve already seen it. Quite recently, in fact.”

Tony’s brain fried a little at that. He surely couldn’t mean to say that he was that monstrous wolf from earlier. But then, the hair, the eyes, the goddamn fanged smile... Of course Loki chose that moment to be a cheeky bastard.

“If you are what you insinuate, prove it. You’ve said a great deal, and we’ve no reason to believe anything you’ve told us, thus far, other than your word. So humor me.” Tony was just fine not seeing that again, thank you very fucking much Loki. What the fuck was that bastard actually thinking? There was hardly room in his lab for something that size, and he certainly didn’t want to be trapped in a room with something that big and toothy.

“Very well, then. As you wish.” As Tony looked on in horror, the child’s eyes glowed golden, pupils promptly contracting until they were completely invisible. The glow of golden power surrounded him, completely hiding whatever transformation he was undergoing from their eyes. As the glow slowly dissipated, a black canid the size of a draft horse stood in front of Tony and Loki, eyes gleaming with intelligence and mouth crooked open in what looked like the doggy version of a smirk.

Holy fucking shit. Well, that was a cool party trick. A party trick Tony would much rather the pipsqueak (who was no longer anything remotely resembling a pipsqueak) just reverse. However, looking quickly to gauge Loki’s reaction, he found the Trickster absolutely radiating smug curiosity. Tony scoffed. It was a goddamn bit early for the Jotunn to be waxing so paternally prideful. Whatever.

“Is this sufficient evidence for you, Loki Liesmith?” The creature’s voice was deep and resonating, and nearly scared the piss out of Tony. Also, upon closer inspection, he began to notice that in this form, the kid looked as much like a giant dog as he did a wolf.

Loki circled his supposed progeny contemplatively. Finally, he halted, facing the creature’s muzzle. “What is your name, boy?”

Yeah, that was definitely a smirk on the critter’s muzzle. “I am the one called Garmr.”

He saw Loki’s eyes widen briefly in surprise. “Interesting. The hellhound, then.” The look in Loki’s eyes was calculating. “I would have thought you would be holding dominion in Hel’s realm, not chasing after Thanos’ ‘daughter.’”

“It is a hard task to guard my younger sister when she does not yet exist.” The expression on Loki’s face seemed somehow wounded and at the same time frightened. Tony had the sneaking suspicion that he had been fishing for something, and he had gotten far more than he bargained for in answer. “And besides. The fate of my twin will determine the fate of the sister I was born to protect.”

Loki’s face was drawn in grim lines. “What do you propose I do, then? I have no way of finding her. For all that you have insinuated, in our reality she does not even yet exist. I can see no near future in which she possibly could. And I know, and know well, that Thanos will be at our door sooner rather than later.”

The hound shimmered, the lines of his body blurring, and suddenly the boy stood before them again. He approached Loki slowly, tentatively. He reached out a hand to touch the side of Loki’s face.

“I would not worry over how she comes to be overmuch, Fader. What matters is that she will, no matter the decisions you make. She always does. What is most important is that you find her, and that when you do, you do not let any power that exists separate you from her. Whither she goes, so, too, do I. When you find her, you will find me, also.” The boy removed his hand from his careful exploration of his father’s features. “But this is not the only reason I have come to you. There are other things we must discuss.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “And pray tell what they may be.”

The child held his hand out in front of him, curled into a fist. When he opened it, they sucked in a gasp at what they saw. The Aether unfurled, red and malevolent, from the palm of Garmr’s hand.

“You already have the Tesseract. Thanos already has the staff. I took the liberty of gathering this for you, for I suspected you would have use for it soon. Now, I only worry that I may have proven too late in providing it to you. I suppose you know what all of these items are?”

“The Tesseract is the Space Gem, the staff is the Mind Gem, and what you hold now is the Reality Gem, is it not? The Power Gem resides on Nova Prime, where another incarnation of your sister and a band of brigands liberated it from a tyrant. Are my conjectures correct?”

The boy’s mouth curved into a wicked smile. “I knew one of the pair of us must have inherited your particular brand of wit. Indeed, you have the right of it thus far. So, clever Jotunn, have you stumbled across any clue as to remainder of the Gems?”

Loki bristled at the careless reference to his species.

“We know what they are, not where they are. Is there a point to this?” Yeah, Tony was so not seeing a familial resemblance here.

The scowl on Garmr’s face was Loki’s, imposed on slightly different features. The kid had his father’s coloring and some of the finer features of his bone structure, but his face was not as sharp and angled as his father’s. He extended his hand to Loki.

“Take it. I suggest you find the Power Gem and add it to you collection promptly. As for the Time and Soul Gems... You shall find them where mortals dare not tread, and where you are least welcome. There will be a toll to pay for each to its keeper, and should you not be able to afford it, you will not leave with your life. In fact, in realms such as these, you will be lucky to leave with your life at all. They lie within Yggdrasil’s branches in the Nine. This information shall have to be enough, for I am unable to provide you with more.”

“Unable, or unwilling?” Tony had caught the subtlest hint of something unsettling in Garmr’s last statement.

“Either way, the result remains the same.” The kid looked up at him, familiarity in his eyes. “Take it. Now. I can linger in this plane no longer.”

Loki reached for the Aether with his magic, tucking it away neatly, hidden from view and safe from all but Tony. As he did, the boy turned one last piercing, demanding look on them and disappeared in golden smoke. The way the kid looked at him made him curious. He knew who Tony was, had met him before. He’d bet money on it. But he couldn’t fathom why he would be involved in Loki’s future family life. Unless... He gave a start, horrified by the direction his thoughts had gone.

“Loki, there’s not a chance... That is to say... You have lady parts now. What if...?” Tony couldn’t even finish voicing the thought. He watched as Loki’s face blanched.

“Goodness, no, Stark. I spelled your seed dead when we lay with each other that night, and my magic would have detected if there were any such... changes... within me.” He could see horror on Loki’s face. Tony couldn’t say he blamed him. Though, there was a small part of him, as much as his logic hated him for it, that was almost disappointed. He had grown close to the god, and knowing that someday... someday soon, it seemed... he would have to let go of Loki, that Loki would have a family to protect, gave him a small pang of something like loss and a heaping helping of something that felt a lot like betrayal.

“Maybe, just to be on the safe side, we should stick to having sex with you in your human skin, unless you’re topping.” Much as Tony had enjoyed their last bout of canoodling, he knew they shouldn’t tempt fate, no matter how much he trusted Loki’s magic. “And maybe... you wouldn’t mind checking, just to be sure?”

Loki chewed at his lower lip, nervously, before he realized his actions and abruptly stopped. “You’re probably right, Stark. There’s no need to risk such a thing unnecessarily.” He paused, his expression hesitant. “And I suppose I may humor your paranoia.” He raised his hands to his abdomen, fingers and eyes glowing with flickering green magic. His eyes seemed unfocused, turned inward. After a few moments, the magic dissipated and he lifted his eyes to Tony. “Nothing, Stark.” The relief on Loki’s face, Tony imagined, looked much like his own. Hollow. Loki began to pace. “I just don’t understand how this will come to be.”

Tony snorted. “Yeah, gotta say... Finding out that you apparently sire one kid while involved, or recently involved, with me is a little disconcerting. Finding out that there’s two is just a little insulting. Thinking about the fact that you could very well be their mother? Priceless.”

Loki glared daggers at him. “Do you think I’m fond of the fact that I apparently am going to cheat on you, Stark?”

Tony stared at him silently, shocked, for a good beat. “Insinuating that it would be cheating... it would only be cheating if this is an actual relationship, Loki. Is this a relationship, Loki?”

Loki looked equally shocked at his slip. He quickly turned from Tony. “Well, it’s hardly as though I’ve had a moment to really bother trying to partner with anyone else, what with Thanos looming on the horizon, Asgard to run, and Infinity Gems to locate.”

Tony slowly walked up behind him, curling his hands around Loki’s shoulders. He took a deep breath, and let it out in a gust of a sigh. Fuck it, he could do this. “I’ve not been with anyone else, either, Loki. And it wasn’t for lack of opportunity.” He could feel the god stiffen beneath his hands.

“What are you insinuating, Stark?” Loki’s words were soft, lethal.

“I’m insinuating the same thing that you did when you admitted to being upset at the idea of cheating on me. I’m insinuating that, complete and utter pain in my ass or not, I like having you around. You challenge me, keep me on my toes. You make me feel like I’m actually living again, Loki, not walking around in a PTSD and alcohol induced stupor of self pity.”

Loki turned and suddenly, violently, his lips were mashed against Tony’s, his arms wrapped crushingly around Tony’s torso. When they finally came up again for air, Tony chuckled.

“I’m going to take that as an ‘I like you Tony, please be my boyfriend, for real this time.’” Tony ducked the inevitable punch that was thrown at him, his grin feeling as though it were splitting his face. He caught Loki’s fist before it could try to make contact with him again, pulling Loki in close to him and peppering the god’s reluctant face with kisses.

He felt the moment Loki finally relaxed in his arms, rolling his eyes good naturedly. He hummed quietly in thought, running his hands through wild black locks. “It’ll never be easy with you, will it? But then, I guess, it’ll never be easy with me, either.”

Loki scoffed. “In that regard, we are well suited, Stark.”

“I keep telling you not to call me by my last name when we’re being romantic.”

“And I will keep ignoring you, Stark.”

Tony hid his smirk in Loki’s hair. “What do you think the kid meant, about the last two gems?”

“Though it burns me to admit it, I have not yet parsed his clue. The Nine Realms are vast, as are the spaces between them, the branches of Yggdrasil even more so. There are many inhospitable places they could be, and I do not even know the appearance of these gems. They have not been seen in my lifetime.”

Tony whistled. “That’s impressive, because you and Thor are like, super old farts, right?”

Loki spluttered, indignant. “I’ll have you know that I am quite youthful by Asgardian standards, Stark. More so than you by Midgardian standards, in fact.”

“It still doesn’t change the fact that I’m boning a guy who’s more than old enough to be my grandpa.” This time, he didn’t quite manage to duck Loki’s fist. Fortunately, however, his altered body chemistry made the impact less painful that it would have been previously. “Don’t worry, darling, you’re aging well. Like fine wine.” Loki huffed, attempting, half heartedly, to pull away from Tony. Tony didn’t let him succeed. “So, when can I expect you to be gallivanting off to find this Power Gem?”

“If you insist on baiting me, Stark, I may well leave now.”

“Now, sweetie, don’t be that way. At least stay the night. You made it sound like you’d been planning to stay the night. I’ll order you udon again and everything, like our first sleepover.” He could tell he’d garnered Loki’s interest.

“Very well. As long as you promise to shove no more of that foul cherry flavored concoction down my throat.”

Tony saluted. “Scout’s honor.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “I sincerely doubt you were ever a scout. Even had you been, your honor is highly suspect.”

Tony grasped his chest, gasping in mock hurt. “So little faith in your lover.”

Loki smiled, sidling up to him and fairly purring. “No, I merely know my lover.” He leaned in close to Tony’s lips, to the point that Tony could feel his warm breath gusting over them, only to pull away with a smirk and head for the door to the lab. “Now, do come along, Stark. I want this dinner I was promised. I suspect, as well, that your teammates would like to see that Lyell has not yet gotten fed up with you and abandoned you.” As he spoke, he morphed into his disguise.

Tony followed him, content for the moment, even with danger lurking at their doorstep. Regardless of whether or not he had to give up this fragile, tenuous relationship that was blossoming with Loki, regardless of when he had to give it up, he was going to enjoy it while he was able. After all, it wasn’t every day that a genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist got to wake up with a Norse deity in their bed. 

  


Tony and Loki, in the guise of Lyell, made a brief appearance on the common floor of Avengers Tower to check in with the team. However, morale appeared to still be at an all time low, and mistrustful glances were continuously traded. After the day that he and Loki had been through, the discoveries they’d made, they opted on returning to Tony’s penthouse for dinner. Luckily enough for them, Bruce and Pepper joined them in a show of support. With Loki chatting animatedly with Pepper, the two catching up on some utterly ridiculous show on the television (Once Upon a Time, really?), Tony pulled Bruce aside. They slipped off to Tony’s office and sat across from each other on the leather couches set up there.

“So, uh. I imagine you have some questions about earlier. And you deserve some answers.”

Bruce took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. “Tony, I don’t know if I can keep getting by with you just giving me pieces of the story and not the whole of what’s going on. I don’t know if knowing it all would make lying to the team worse or not, but at least I could have some peace of mind, knowing what we’re up against.”

Tony fidgeted shamelessly. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear this? I mean, I’m going to tell the team, once we’ve got our shit together more, once we’ve got a better idea what’s going on. But this is really, really fucking big, Banner. I don’t know. Some days, I really wish I didn’t know.”

“I think, Tony, it’ll be better for everyone involved if I can know what it is, exactly, that I need to be afraid of.”

Tony winced, more than willing to concede that point.

“So, uh. You know what I said, when Loki and I were having that fallout over Amora. About the invasion, and Loki not exactly being in possession of his full... faculties, at the time.” He continued quickly, not meeting Bruce’s probing eyes. “The staff... it’s worse than we thought it was. More powerful. The big bad that orchestrated the invasion, he was using it to control Loki. He used it on Loki like Loki used it on Barton and Selvig, except since Loki was a god, the best I can figure, he retained a little more... pizzaz.” Tony stood, pacing a small circle on the expensive carpet between his desk and the couches.

“The staff isn’t the only thing we have to worry about, either. It and the Tesseract, and this other thing that nearly fucked Thor’s shit up called the Aether, they’re part of a set of six. What we’ve seen of their power so far is apparently nothing compared to the potential they actually hold.” Tony paused, facing Bruce again. “Whoever Odin entrusted the Tesseract and the Aether to, he lost them, recently. And now Amora has retrieved the glowstick of destiny for this psychotic alien overlord, Thanos, who’s apparently convinced her to join the even-darker-than-dark-side.” Bruce was looking a little pale and green around the gills, which was more than a bit worrisome. He hurried to finish getting out the important bits.

“We managed to get our hands on the Tesseract and the Aether. Green girl and her trusty sidekick, giant motherfucking wolf, happened to have them on hand. They work for Thanos, too, mostly. We know where one of the other gems is, and Loki’s off to try and get his twitchy fingers on it soon. The rest, we couldn’t have less of a fucking clue about.” At that point, Bruce had closed his eyes, and Tony could hear him calculatedly taking calming breaths.

“So, yeah. That’s where we stand, right about now. Big, bad, and probably ugly, judging from most of his minions, is gunning for these things, these Infinity Gems, too.”

Bruce didn’t react for a few moments. When he did, Tony could see he was just barely managing to restrain his big green rage monster. “Tony, you really don’t think this is something that the rest of the team should know about?” His tone, for once, was full of censure.

Tony was quiet for a moment, considering. “Bruce, just what do you think they’d do, if Loki and I popped by for a team meeting to tell them we’re trying to forestall the destruction of earth and the rest of the Nine Realms?” Tony scoffed. “They’d eat us alive, and we’d never see the light of day again. Thanos would come with his army, with the Infinity Gems, and you all wouldn’t stand a chance. Sure, they might let us out, once they knew they were utterly fucked. But what good would we be then, completely unprepared? This guy destroys entire planets, Bruce. We can’t fuck around with this.”

Bruce’s eyes met Tony’s, melancholic. “You really think you can trust them that little?”

“I won’t take that risk, not with all of their lives, and ours, and countless others. I’ll tell them, but I’ll tell them when we’ve managed to locate the other gems, when we know when Thanos is coming. When we have some kind of proof.” Tony sat down next to Bruce, close enough that their shoulders and legs were touching, a show of support. “I don’t like hiding this or lying, either. But one look at Loki, and we'd be fucked. Just trust me on this. I know I’m asking a lot, but I promise I won’t leave them in the dark forever.”

Bruce’s sigh was defeated. “I just hope you’re not too late, Tony. But I won’t tell them, not unless they’re in danger. You can’t expect me to keep this a secret if something goes wrong, if you’re not there to tell them.”

Tony wrapped an arm around Bruce, squeezing his shoulder. “That’s all I can ask. I’m sorry, Bruce.”

Bruce shook his head. “Let’s just get back out there, before Pepper and Loki start painting each others’ nails and god knows what else.”

Tony shuddered in horror at the thought. They really should have known better than to leave the pair of them alone. 

  


Expecting mayhem when they returned to the common room, it was with some surprise that Tony registered the hushed and serious tones coming from there. He motioned Bruce to hang back with him, intrigued, and Bruce, thankfully, complied, rolling his eyes. As Tony listened, however, he began to think he might have been better off ignoring the serious conversation taking place in the room and just barreling into it. It would have saved him some mortification.

“I must say, Pepper, that I find myself surprised that you seem to like me so well. Were our positions reversed, I doubt I could be so generous.” Loki’s voice was far more tentative than Tony was used to hearing it.

“I’m not as saintly as all that, Lyell. I didn’t want to like you, at first. But it was easy to see how much you cared about Tony, and vice versa.”

Loki was silent for a moment, making a noncommittal sound that Tony could pick out the note of shock in. “Is it really all that obvious, that we share a certain... regard? Neither of us are at ease with affection.”

Pepper carried on, blindly oblivious to Loki’s discomfort and her uncomfortable audience. “No, I suppose you aren’t. But for someone who knows Tony well, it’s there to see, if you’re willing to look closely enough. I’m not entirely sure I can remember the last time he looked so happy, before you showed up.”

“Happy? I’m quite entirely certain I drive him mad. The feeling is assuredly mutual.” Loki’s laugh sounded the slightest bit false to Tony’s ears.

“But isn’t that how love always is?” Tony nearly gave them away as Pepper let loose with that particular faux pas.

“I don’t imagine I would know. I can’t say as I’ve ever been in love, so far as I'm aware.” Loki’s voice was bewildered.

Tony could hear the smile in Pepper’s voice, the gentle amusement. “No, I don’t expect you would be.”

Tony could just barely see the corner of Loki’s confused face. “How is one supposed to determine something of that nature, at any rate? It’s absurd. There’s nothing quantifiable about it.”

Pepper’s voice was smug, and a little too knowing for Tony’s comfort. “I don’t believe it’s something you’re supposed to be able to quantify, Lyell.”

Bruce looked entirely too pleased beside of him, so Tony chose that moment to barge into the room. “What, no Golden Girls marathon, yet? Where’s the nail polish, the baby photos, the embarrassment?”

And just like that, the moment was broken. Loki’s eyes flashed from confused and thoughtful to playful ire. Pepper just looked a little disappointed, but yeah, really, there was no way he was letting that conversation continue.

“Does a day ever go by, Stark, that you are not irrevocably an ass?”

“Only if you pay me, baby, and probably not even then.” Instead of being offended, the soft curve of Loki’s lips was almost fond, and Tony thought he must have been in the Twilight Zone.


	9. Daddy's Gonna Steal You a Power Gem (and if that Power Gem don't Shine, Daddy's Gonna Take You from Behind) or [the Chapter Wherein the Author Lost all Fucks]

After shooing Bruce and Pepper off to their own floors that night, Tony and Loki quietly retreated to the penthouse’s master bedroom. Tony’s pallet had disappeared ages ago. He pointedly refused to keep it when Loki was randomly disappearing every time he turned his back on him for five seconds. The mood was pretty somber, or as somber as Tony Stark and the Norse God of Chaos were capable of managing. When Tony came up behind Loki and tentatively wrapped his arms around him, the god hummed thoughtfully and didn’t protest.

“So, you leaving tomorrow to find that other gem?”

“I believe it would be prudent to do so as soon as possible, yes.”

Tony nuzzled his face into Loki’s neck, nipping it playfully, if a little half heartedly. He decidedly pulled Loki toward the bed, slowly unclothing him and then himself. He gave Loki a light shove, pushing him onto the bed, and the god arched an eyebrow at him before he scooted over to make room for Tony, who promptly made like a cephalopod and wrapped himself around Loki’s long, lean body before pulling the covers over them. Loki burrowed into his warmth, and now that Tony was looking for it, he could feel the slightest difference in their body temperatures, even with Loki’s glamour.

“What, exactly, are we doing, Anthony?” Tony sneakily grazed Loki’s ribs with his fingernails, smiling into his nape as the god stiffened with repressed laughter and squirmed.

“We’re cuddling, princess. Get used to it. I don’t really think I’m up for too many shenanigans after the day we’ve had.”

Loki’s fingers traced idle patterns over his forearms. “Yes, I suppose all of the theatrics have been rather a bit of a mood dampener. A shame. I’d had such plans for the next time I joined you in your bed.”

Tony pressed a kiss to the soft skin behind Loki’s ear. “Mmm. That sounds interesting. We’ll just have to get around to it next time you’re here.”

Loki’s hand on his arm stilled at the spoken insinuation that there would be a next time. “Yes, I suppose we shall.” His hand resumed it’s idle path across his skin, and Tony felt like he’d harnessed fire, like he’d befriended a wild beast, in this bizarre moment of stillness, of trust.

  


When Tony woke the next morning, it was to the sensation that something was slightly off. His brow furrowed as he drowsily tried to figure out what had woken him up. As he shifted, he realized the space beside of him was unoccupied and chilly. He had a moment to frown in consternation before over six feet of Trickster flopped theatrically onto the bed beside of him, nearly overtaxing Tony’s already rather fragile heart. Loki cackled with mirth as Tony flailed, making a noise of distress, and held his hands over Tony’s eyes. Tony batted at them, still a bit peeved.

“I have a surprise for you, Anthony.” Loki’s voice was sing-song, and, quite frankly, a little terrifying. “Keep your eyes closed, darling.” Tony huffed, but complied. He felt Loki shift slightly and the flare of his magic. “All right, open them.”

Tony stared in awe and not a little consternation at the glowing purple gem in Loki’s hand. Last thing he’d known, he and Loki were having a sleepover, were just spending a night cuddling, before a presumably lengthy separation for Loki to go off on his own adventuring to find the Power Gem. Looked like he’d been had. Loki was wearing an absolutely shit eating grin. Tony couldn’t help but wonder just how long the god had bothered to wait after he fell asleep to skip out on him with no word.

“Well, I’ll be fucked. Sideways, even. How the fuck did you manage that in one evening?”

Loki pursed his lips. “I’ve found that governments, even intergalactic governments, tend to be quite overconfident when it comes to their security. It was really quite simple. I teleported to Xandar, extended my senses to see if I could feel the gem, and when I got a hint of its power, went to the most ostentatious building in that vicinity. I teleported inside, willed the gem into my hand, and promptly teleported right back here.”

“So, what time did you skip out on me?”

“Oh, I’d say...” Loki glanced at the clock on the bedside table, but before he could answer, JARVIS interjected.

“You were gone for exactly 27 minutes and 43 seconds, sir.”

“Thank you, JARVIS. So, there you have it. I left roughly half an hour ago.”

Tony whistled. “I don’t know what I’m more impressed by; the fact that you managed to spend an entire night spooning in my bed without sex, or the fact that you managed to travel to a different galaxy, steal a supremely powerful one of a kind gem from no doubt high security, and return before breakfast.”

Loki scoffed. “It’s ten a.m., Anthony. It’s well past time for breakfast.” He slipped the gem back into a pocket dimension, and as soon as he had, Tony tackled him.

“Well, then. I suppose you won’t be needing any yet.” Loki prodded him mercilessly in the side. “Awh, babe. Don’t be that way. Or are you just angry I haven’t thanked you for the present, yet? You really do bring me the best presents.” Loki made a noise of disgust. “Whatever can I do to show you I’m sincere, Mr. Fussy Pants?”

“You could start by kneeling at my feet and groveling, if you use any more pet names like that. Then I might just consider killing you quickly.”

“Oooh. I love it when you talk dirty to me, and even more when you threaten me with bodily harm.”

“Not harm, Stark. Slow and painful death.” Tony smirked shamelessly down at his disgruntled bedmate.

“Well, then. At least give me a proper send off and deal with the paperwork for me? Pepper would kill me again if she had to deal with it, and you actually like Pepper. You wouldn’t want to make her upset, now, would you?” Loki rolled his eyes, shoving futilely at Tony’s shoulders.

“Is it just me, Stark, or are you a tad stronger than previously?” Loki’s eyes were narrowed contemplatively. He shoved again, with more force this time, and still Tony was able to hold his own. “Hmm. I don’t think you’re quite as strong as my or Thor’s ilk, as of yet, but certainly not as pitifully frail as you were prior.”

Tony flexed his arm thoughtfully. “Huh. Who’d a thought. That’s certainly an unexpected perk.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Why am I entirely convinced this is going to make dealing with you that much more of an annoyance?”

Tony smirked. “It’s nice to know you care, princess.”

Loki quickly flipped their positions, pinning Tony to the bed. And yeah, Tony could tell that of the pair of them, Loki was still definitely the stronger. But he was right. He could at least make Loki exert himself, now. The god gripped Tony’s hair tightly in his fingers, pulling his head back to bare his throat.

“You know, Stark, I think you mostly made your earlier suggestion about my topping because you couldn’t wait to see how it feels to have my Jotunn cock inside of you, you slut.” Above him, Loki’s skin was quickly leeching from white to shades of indigo. Much as he wanted to run his mouth, he felt himself give a revealing shiver of anticipation instead. He frowned as he noticed how much more clothed Loki was than when they’d went to bed. Seeming to sense his frustration, Loki smirked down at him and promptly vanished his clothing.

“Is this what you wanted, Stark? To be bedded by the monster? To be impaled on its cock?” Tony could feel Loki’s cock hardening, pressed against his belly. And yeah, he was probably a little anticipatory to get a glimpse of the thick, blue length of it. Get his hands on it, his mouth on it, anything. He was dying to explore the veritable miles of cool, blue skin at his disposal.

“And what if it is? What if I want you to pin me down and fuck me, to bite me with those pretty little fangs of yours, to drop this civil bullshit and have your fucking way with me?” Loki let loose a low growl, something near to a snarl, those wicked fangs of his kneading into his lower lip.

“If you want it so badly, why don’t you take it?” And with that, Tony was suddenly free, Loki laying on his back beside of him, eyes hooded and hungry. “Well, Stark, what are you waiting for?” Yeah, and Tony was so getting with the program, after his brief moment of arousal induced disorientation. Loki’s dick lay erect and heavy against the taut muscles of his abdomen, and the way his fangs were still digging into his lower lip told Tony just how desperate for this he was.

So, Tony crawled over to Loki, doing his best to look predatory and seductive. In reality, he felt ridiculous, but the way Loki palmed his cock and hissed as he came closer was more than worth it. He trailed stinging nips and lewd kisses up the smooth, hairless expanse of Loki’s never-ending legs, making the god squirm. When he hovered just over his prize, Loki grabbed him by the hair, the look in his eyes demanding. It sent a shiver of want down Tony’s spine, and he smirked, licking his lips before he leaned in to lave a line from the base of Loki’s cock all the way to the tip. The color of it was exquisite, a few shades darker than the rest of Loki’s body.

He circled his tongue around it before sucking the head into his mouth, smiling around it as he felt Loki’s hips jerk. He kept up his teasing exploration of Loki’s newer and bluer cock until he felt Loki’s fingers tighten threateningly in his hair. Then, he swallowed down the entire length of it, by no means a small feat, reveling in the absolutely wrecked groan it wrought from Loki as his throat clenched around him. He almost pulled all the way off on the way back up, just leaving the tip in his mouth to torment. He pressed the tip of his tongue to the meatus before gulping the length of Loki’s dick back down.

He kept up an infuriatingly slow pace, incredibly aroused at the way Loki’s dick glistened with saliva. Finally, as Loki began to downright snarl in frustration above him, he pulled off with an obscene pop, lips shining with precome and spit.

“I’ve been wanting to try something for a while now.” Tony held out his hand, his fingers and eyes glowing brightly with a flare of his magic. When it dissipated, his fingers were coated with lube. “Yeah, that’s just as fucking cool as I thought it would be.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Quit speaking, Stark, before you ruin the mood. I find I like you much better with your mouth otherwise occupied.”

Tony smirked. “Tetchy, tetchy. I thought I was supposed to be the impatient one.” Regardless, Tony refrained from making the Popsicle comparison he was dying to, deciding to save it for later. Before Loki could complain further, Tony leaned back and snaked his lube soaked fingers between his legs, circling one playfully around his clenched hole. And suddenly, Loki’s attention was riveted, his eyes definitely no longer on Tony’s face.

Rather impatient himself, Tony pressed in the first finger up to the knuckle, hissing a little at the burn of it and curling it searchingly. The angle made it a little bit difficult, but the expression on Loki’s face as his hand began working over his cock was well worth it. So Tony kept pumping it slowly in and out, tortuously slowly, until he was grinding back helplessly onto his own hand, desperate for the friction he needed. He added the second finger much more hastily, and as he began to scissor his fingers inside of himself, working open the tight ring of his sphincter, the lubrication they were coated in created a naughty squelch.

Loki’s eyes were absolutely riveted to where his fingers were disappearing and reappearing from inside of him. His other hand had come down to cup and roll his balls, and Tony could see a small drop of deep blue blood welling from underneath one of his teeth where they were clenched into his lower lip. Tony finally managed to angle his fingers just so, and the pressure was such a tease, almost where he needed it, almost enough. When he slipped in the third finger, he finally, blessedly was full enough that each calculated thrust had him squirming from the resultant shock of pleasure.

Loki growled, in threat or in exasperation, Tony couldn’t tell, when Tony let out a frustrated little moan. His hands stilled in their ministrations, and he beckoned Tony with one of his fingers. Tony scrambled inelegantly until he was straddling Loki’s lap, both of them panting with arousal. Tony wanted so badly to sink down on Loki’s gorgeously engorged, weeping cock and fuck himself silly, but somehow, he managed to hold himself back long enough to torment them some more, first.

He ground his lube slicked ass across Loki’s cock, delighting in the hiss of pleasure and the helpless roll of Loki’s hips that resulted. He continued that for a bit, bracing his hands on Loki’s chest. Loki’s hands had come up to grab his hips almost painfully tight, directing his movements as they rocked together. Their breath came in harsh pants, and yeah, okay, Tony should probably give up the ghost and finally fuck Loki, because he was going to come all over himself if they kept this up, if he didn’t get Loki inside of him soon.

He summoned more lube, though at this point, they were probably both slicked up enough from what Tony had already used prepping himself and the gratuitous amount of fluid that was steadily leaking from Loki’s tip. He lifted his hips, holding himself above Loki as he reached underneath him to run his lube soaked hand over Loki’s cock in a few firm strokes. Loki’s eyelids fluttered shut and his mouth hung open as he panted for breath, and when he felt Tony hold his length still, press it to Tony’s fluttering entrance, those incredible burgundy eyes flew open and locked onto Tony’s own which were glowing furiously blue.

Tony slowly pressed the head of Loki’s cock inside of himself, heart hammering at the stretch of it. He ever so slowly sank the rest of the way down, eyes hooded with pleasure. Finally, he had the entire length of Loki sheathed inside of him. He was so full, stretched to capacity, with Loki’s length buried so deeply inside of him. His pelvis made contact with Loki’s, and he squirmed as he waited to adjust, too overstimulated to stay still. Loki’s fingers gripped him so tightly he was sure they’d leave bruises as they endeavored to hold him still, his face almost pained at the effort of not giving in and moving yet himself.

Finally, when Tony could take it no longer, he let out a low noise that was embarrassingly close to a whine. He could practically see Loki’s control snap, and suddenly, the Jotunn’s hips were pistoning upward into his, and his thighs burned with the effort of propelling him desperately up and down onto Loki’s cock. Tony’s fingers curled into Loki’s pecs as he did his best to brace himself and to simultaneously gain more leverage with which to fuck both of their brains out. Loki shifted, bending his legs at the knee and nearly immediately pounding more furiously into Tony. The improved positioning had the added benefit of shifting how Loki’s dick was fucking into him just slightly, and that difference had him digging his fingers into Loki’s flesh, toes curling as he nearly whimpered with pleasure.

He could feel Loki growl as he made incoherent noises of need, the god running his hands over Tony’s thighs, his hips, grabbing his ass and kneading it as he directed Tony’s movements in time with his thrusts. Tony’s dick was painfully hard and aching, bobbing against his stomach in time with their furious fucking. But Tony didn’t think he could touch himself and manage to hold himself up with the brutal pace they were setting, and Loki obviously wasn’t interested in making him come before he was good and well ready. Tony’s breath was harsh in and out of his lungs, and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. His limbs were quivering slightly from the stimulation and the strain, and the moment he noticed it, Loki did, too.

The god flipped them over with a dark and fangy smile, pulling Tony’s legs up and around his hips. Tony writhed underneath him, desperate, and when Loki pushed back inside of him, he didn’t wait for Tony to adjust. He just fucked into him at a punishing pace, and Tony couldn’t even get his quivering muscles to meet Loki’s thrusts fast enough, so he stopped trying. He lay there, clinging to Loki as he pounded mercilessly into him, not even bothering to hold back the absolutely wrecked moans the god was drawing out of him.

Loki’s lips came down to meet his, and he could feel them quirk into a smile as he swallowed the eager sounds that Tony was making. He kissed Tony with a languidness that was totally at odds with the brutal way he was fucking him. Tony could feel their magic, pooling just underneath the surface of their skin, crackling electrically in the places they touched. As Loki kissed Tony, curling his fingers in Tony’s hair, Tony’s arms came up to grip desperately at Loki’s shoulders. Loki’s entire torso was pressed deliciously against his now, and each thrust drew the taut flesh of his abdomen over Tony’s cock where it was pressed eagerly between them.

Tony could feel heat building low in his belly, his balls drawing up tightly. He whimpered again, knowing the reaction it would pull from Loki, and sure enough, he wasn’t disappointed. The Jotunn growled lowly into his ear, rhythm beginning to falter. Tony wriggled his hips up to meet Loki’s thrusts as best he could, his dick nearly throbbing with the need to come. He could see Loki’s brows drawing together in strained pleasure before he began to drag sloppy kisses down Tony’s neck to its junction with his shoulder. Tony ran his fingers down the god’s spine to the cheeks of his ass, gripping them tightly. Loki’s hips stuttered against his, his teeth closing together roughly on the flesh above Tony’s collar bone, fangs easily breaking the skin.

Tony hissed, spine arching as his muscles went taut. He could feel his cock spurting forcefully between them, coating his stomach and Loki’s. His mouth was wrenched open in a drawn out gasp as his eyes shuttered closed. Distantly, he felt Loki stiffen and still above him in nearly the same breath, felt cool liquid beginning to pool inside of him. The aftershocks of his orgasm seemed to last for ages, and all he could do was squirm helplessly beneath Loki as he panted into the skin of the shoulder he’d savagely bitten into. He felt the cold of Loki’s release spreading, tingling and strange inside of him.

It took them an age or two longer to catch their breath and pry their eyes open. Loki’s red met Tony’s blue, still glowing with magic. He lifted a hand to trace the skin next to Tony’s eyes, thoughtfully, then noticed the slight wells of blood pooling where his teeth had locked into Tony’s skin. His eyes immediately shifted to something close to concern and he swiped his fingers gently across the wounds, removing the blood. His eyes narrowed.

“It’s already begun to heal, Anthony. Something so deep should not have healed so fast.” He rubbed his fingers together, the blood spreading across his fingertips.

Tony pulled him back down on top of him, Loki’s head resting just slightly away from his arc reactor on his chest.

“You’re ruining my afterglow. I thought I was supposed to be the mouthy one.”

Loki huffed a laugh. “I still say you’re far more attractive with my cock between your lips. Though, I have to say... you’re certainly not quiet during sex, but I find your lack of verbosity when you’re being fucked quite appealing.”

Tony swatted at him with a mock glare. “I have no idea what you’re going on about, God of Lies.”

Loki’s smile was fond. “Of course you don’t, mortal. Perhaps I’ll have to ravage your pretty little ass again and show you what I mean.”

Tony kneaded Loki’s ass, lifting his hips to press into Loki’s. “Maybe you will. But maybe we should nap, first. I don’t feel like I can move for about another year.”

Loki’s fingers tickled across his ribcage, viciously, and Tony squirmed. “I’m flattered that my performance has left you so exhausted.”

Tony curled his fingers in Loki’s messy curls. “Performance, indeed. By the way, I didn’t know your come would be so chilly, now. I didn’t notice that the last time.”

Loki’s brow furrowed. “Is it? I was not aware. It’s not as though I’ve exactly spent a lot of time getting my rocks off when I look like this.” His tone was arch.

Tony lifted Loki’s chin to look him in the eye. “Hey, it’s not a bad thing. Just different. Cool, even.” He waggled his eyebrows, and Loki huffed at the terrible pun. “But seriously. Figuring out all of your nifty new features is going to be fun.”

“You’d think you’d been gifted with a new toy, Stark.”

“No. Not a toy. Just an impossibly stubborn, unbelievably sexy alien boyfriend.” He smacked Loki lightly on the ass.

The god flipped them over, pulling Tony up to kiss him breathless. He then proceeded to coat his fingers with frost and drag them over Tony’s spine. Tony did not squeal like a girl. He squealed like a man who had just been tickled post-coital with ice.

Finally, though, Loki decided to have mercy on him, and Tony curled up desperately into his side for warmth. Loki was kind enough, after his assault, to pull the covers over both of them.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to thank you.”

“Whatever for, Stark? Saving your pitiful mortal hide again?”

Tony mock pouted. “My hide isn’t pitiful. You’re too vain to fuck pitiful hide.” Loki snorted completely inelegantly. “For the daggers, Loki. They’re really the best craftsmanship I’ve ever seen. You must have spent ages on them.”

Loki hummed noncommittally. “I am glad you like them so well, Anthony. However, for someone with magic, it was really no great difficulty to make them.”

Tony arched a brow, skeptically, but didn’t push Loki to admit how finely forged they were if he didn’t want to. “Regardless, thank you. They were a lovely gift.”

“After you so carelessly gifting me with one of your suits, it was the least I could do. I can’t quite say that they return the favor, but I hope they will be of some use to you.”

Tony smiled, secretly pleased, into Loki’s neck. The two lay in companionable silence for quite some time, content in each others’ company. As they lay together, Tony had a sudden thought.

“Loki, Garmr said that you had another daughter, right? Hel?”

He felt Loki stiffen beside of him. “According to Norse mythology and some Asgardian prophecies, yes. But in none of those is it mentioned that Garmr is my son or that I have a daughter by the name of Gamora.”

Tony hummed, thoughtfully. “But in Norse mythology, doesn’t Hel have brothers?”

Loki turned to face him, uneasy. “Yes, Stark. What is your point?”

“If I’m remembering my mythology correctly, there’s Jormungandr, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Vali, and Narfi.” Tony looks at Loki searchingly. “Loki, just how many kids do you have, according to the mythology?”

Loki’s face had blanched to a lighter shade of blue. “Eight,” he admittted, reluctantly.

“Then, there’s Gamora and Garmr. So that’s ten, right?”

“Anthony, what does it matter how many children I have according to myth or legend? The two we have encountered are not attributed to me in any myth or legend.”

“But Garmr admitted that he had another sister, admitted that Hel was his sister. If Hel exists, why wouldn’t the others? I mean, Jormungandr and Fenrir are supposed to be her full-blooded brothers, right?”

The expression on Loki’s face was downright terrified. “By all that is holy, Stark, I sincerely hope you are being paranoid.”

Tony imagined his expression wasn’t much happier. “Me fucking too, Loki. Because holy fucking shit, I don’t really remember my eighth grade Arts and Humanities class well, but what I do remember about Norse mythology is really fucking fucked.”

Loki shook his head, his expression turning mulish. “No. It’s absurd, and entirely implausible. I refuse to entertain this foolish notion of yours, Stark.”

Tony shuddered. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s complete horseshit. There’s no fucking way.”

The silence between them was unsettling. “Mythological you needs to learn to use birth control.” Tony spluttered with laughter at the disgusted look Loki turned on him. “What? It’s not my fault if you're prophesied to be a total slut.”

And really, Tony should have been prepared for Loki teleporting him into a bathtub that was filled with ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third installment of the series is now posted!
> 
> Here are the links to Letzi's wonderful art:  
> 1) http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/101245755414/frostiron-bang-2014-a-service-rendered-by  
> 2) http://disizletzi.tumblr.com/post/101245777844/frostiron-bang-2014-a-service-rendered-by


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